Cash For Clunkers

Toyota Corolla most bought, Ford Explorer 4WD most traded

Conventional wisdom says that Cash for Clunkers provided a big-time boost to dealers. After all, before Clunkers, most showroom floors were bereft of customers, and scores of dealerships were closing their doors. As good as C4C has been for customers, many dealers are all too happy it's over.

If you're a car dealer, chances are that you're not visiting Autoblog this morning to see what's going on. No, your head and the head of every single one of your employees is buried in a keyboard right now, frantically refreshing the government's website that handles Cash for Clunkers submissions. The website has been down since yesterday morning, and the Transportation Department has officially extended the deadline for dealers to file

The Cash For Clunkers (C.A.R.S.) program ends today. There are about five hours left before the über-successful government program comes to a sodium silicate-induced halt. So, anyone who's on the fence about getting an extra $4,500 for their low-mileage clunker should call their local dealer pronto. Transpor

Despite a lot of skepticism from industry analysts, the "Cash for Clunkers" program exceeded just about everyone's expectations. It brought in new customers, cleaned out a lot of old inventory, and started putting auto workers back to work.

2009 has been a sales disaster for the automotive world, as industry figures have dropped to the lowest levels in three decades. Cash for Clunkers has been a boon for the otherwise poor year, though, as hundreds of thousands of Americans have traded in their old cars for new, more fuel efficient metal.

This year, Labor Day in the U.S. will be celebrated on September 7. That's over two weeks away, and not that long ago, the government had said the C.A.R.S. (Cash for Clunkers) program would be funded through that date. Looks like the rebate system is once again a victim of its own success once again: a new report says that C.A.R.S. will be shut down Monday. The news<

It's been a fun ride, hasn't it? The federal government's Cash for Clunkers program began with a bang on July 24th and, despite the original plan having it last until Labor Day, will officially end next Monday night (August 24th) at 8PM. The end date was announced today by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and takes into account what he calls conservative sales estimates that have the pot running dry sometime over the weekend.

If there's one thing that General Motors knows right now, it's that Cash for Clunkers is good for business. The automaker announced earlier this week that it was adding shifts at several assembly plants to increase production of popular vehicles in response to the program's success. So it would be a bad thing if, as the National Automobile Dealers Association has requested, the gover

When Cash for Clunkers Version 1.0 hit the ground running like Hussein Bolt in the 400 meter relay, the U.S. government was caught a little flat-footed by the sheer volume of demand. As a result, after only a few days after C4C was started, the government was looking to shut down the program, and dealer ad dollars were twisting in the wind. Customers were confused, too, as many were unsure if the in

The Ford Focus isn't the only vehicle to have its production increased as a result of Cash for Clunkers. The government trade-in incentive program has resulted in a marked increase in demand for vehicles of all shapes and sizes, prompting many automakers to increase production in order to meet surging demand. But while the Obama Administration will be happy to see vehicles with particularly high

If you ask customers with old, inefficient vehicles that are about to be traded in for a $4,500 voucher towards the purchase of a new car, they'd undoubtedly call the Cash for Clunkers program a smashing success. Ditto for automakers that are ramping up production in an effort to keep dealerships stocked with new cars and trucks. We're guessing a lot of sales managers at dealerships around the country are thrilled with C4C, as metal is finally moving off lots after months of sparse showroom traf

General Motors announced an increase in North American production this afternoon that has no doubt been brought on by the success of the federal government's Cash for Clunkers program. The increase will add shifts at facilities in Lordstown, OH, which produces the Chevy Cobalt, and the CAMI plant in Ontario, Canada, which makes the new 2010 Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain.

Cash for Clunkers is good news for people looking to trade in their old cars for new ones. It's good news for America's troubled car dealers. It's good news for automakers. And it's good news for auto workers, some of whom have been called back to work on assembly lines ramping up to meet demand generated by the initiative.

Some car dealerships have a lousy reputation in the honesty and integrity department, and often the rep is well earned. It's unfortunate for the honest dealers out there, but every time a slimy story surfaces, it casts a bad light on the entire business of selling cars. With Cash for Clunkers adding over 300,000 sales in just a few weeks, some issues were bound to occur, and it appears that consumer advocates have turned on the black lights at the roach hotel.