Cash for Clunkers buyers are still showing strong preference for smaller cars

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Cash for Clunkers buyers are still showing strong preference for smaller cars, as program tops 350,000 sales.

See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close) By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com senior writer
Last Updated: August 17, 2009: 5:40 PM ET

NHTSA calls the Toyota Corollla the top-selling Cash for Clunker car.
What I got with Cash for Clunkers

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- More customers trading in vehicles under the Cash for Clunkers program bought cars from Toyota than any other manufacturer, according to new government statistics. In previous reports, General Motors has topped that list.

Toyota has so far sold 18.9% of the vehicles bought through the Clunkers program, while GM is now second, with 17.6% of Clunkers sales. Ford Motor Co (F, Fortune 500). ranks third in Clunker sales, followed by Honda and Chrysler.

Toyota is doing better in Clunker sales than in overall U.S. auto sales, where it stands second to GM. So far this year, GM's overall U.S. market share is 19.6% and Toyota's is 16.3%, according to analysts at the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.

Despite the prominence of Asian brands among the top ranks of Cars for Clunker beneficiaries, slightly more than half of all vehicles purchased under the program were manufactured in the United States.

Buyers have mostly been trading in trucks in favor of small cars, according to data provided the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the agency responsible for running the program. The vast majority of trade-ins, 83%, have been trucks, while 59% of new vehicle purchases have been cars.

The average fuel economy of vehicles being traded in under the program has been 15.8 miles per gallon, according to the latest government data, while the fuel economy of vehicles purchased has averaged 25 mpg, a 58% improvement.

The Toyota Corolla is the most popular car purchased under the program, according the NHTSA, followed by the Honda Civic, Ford Focus compact cars and the Toyota Camry mid-sized car.

The government's system for tallying sales of individual models counts different versions of a car as different models, however, which tends to hurt the rankings of models that have, for instance, two-wheel and four-wheel drive versions. The formula splits their sales figures.

According to analysts at the automotive Web site Edmunds.com, the Ford Escape compact crossover SUV is actually the most popular vehicle purchased under the program, followed by the Ford Focus compact car, the Honda Civic compact car and the Jeep Patriot compact SUV.

The Senate passed a $2 billion extension of the Cash for Clunkers program on Thursday. The program quickly burned through an initial $1 billion in funding after its official kick-off on July 24. So far, about $1.5 billion of claims have been submitted by dealers who have sold a total of about 360,000 cars.
 
This boondoggle doesn't provide much more incentive to buy a fuel efficient vehicle than the market already provides. Do you think people like buying gas?
 
I think the buying huge SUVs as status symbols may be a dying fad. And rightfully so.

If you need a bigger vehicle, that is great. But to push some behemoth down the road getting 8 mpg just to show you have lots of money is stupid.
 
Mine averages over 17 day to day, and gets 20 on trips. 300HP 24V OHC V8, 365#ft, VVT, 6 speed automatic, 4WD, IRS, air suspension, dead cows on the heated and cooled seats, 20" wheels, satellite radio and DVD. Eat your liberal hearts out. :)
 
the milage on them is getting better, and family's with kids need them. I'm tired of the turbo-libs whining about it. Then they fly somewhere and pollute tons more than and SUV would.
 
Many of the dealers in our area have simply stopped this program because the government has yet to pay them. Most of them are upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars outstanding.
 
I drive mine 20K/ year hauling my tools or kids and gear all over, much of it in the mountains during the winter. When I see a Prius trying to climb the hill on 421 up to the Blue Ridge Parkway in the snow I simply steer around him. LOL
 
I live 3 miles from work....I spend around $100 a month for gas on my vehicle......how much should I pay to replace my 2001 Ford F150 (13mgp) with something that gets 30?....
 
I live 3 miles from work....I spend around $100 a month for gas on my vehicle......how much should I pay to replace my 2001 Ford F150 (13mgp) with something that gets 30?....

I'm fond of my GMC pickup. It rides great and does everything I need it to do. I'll pay for the gas necessary to keep using it.
 
The US’s cash-for-clunkers scheme, designed to bolster Detroit’s embattled carmakers, is turning out to be an even bigger boon for their Japanese rivals.

According to data published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Monday, Americans are using the scrappage incentives to buy more vehicles from Toyota than any of the three Detroit carmakers.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e4a67592-8b74-11de-9f50-00144feabdc0.html

Nice way to stimulate Japan's economy, dummies!
 
Mine averages over 17 day to day, and gets 20 on trips. 300HP 24V OHC V8, 365#ft, VVT, 6 speed automatic, 4WD, IRS, air suspension, dead cows on the heated and cooled seats, 20" wheels, satellite radio and DVD. Eat your liberal hearts out. :)

I just threw up in my mouth.
 
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