REPORT: Ford Focus is top-selling Cash For Clunkers car, nearly half buying domestic
2009 Ford Focus SES Coupe – Click above for high-res image gallery
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has processed 80,500 transactions so far, and the early winner of Cash For Clunkers appears to be the Ford Focus. The Detroit News is reporting that the Focus is the number one vehicle purchased under the government program, showing us why Ford's C-Segment vehicle gained 43.6% in July. Ford also saw an amazing 97% increase in Escape sales in July, a tally that was likely improved with the help of Cash For Clunkers.
The controversial and somewhat clumsy program is drawing plenty of attention for its popularity amongst car buyers, and Detroit automakers appear to be taking more than their fair share of sales. The White House says 47% of all vehicles sold through the bill so far come from US automakers; 2% higher than the domestics' 45% overall share. Four of the top 10 vehicles purchased under the program come from domestic automakers, and over half of all vehicles were built in the States.
With so many orders in the cue, the Cash For Clunkers program will likely have to be pulled by Friday if more money isn't appropriated. The House voted last week to add another $2 billion to the initiative's coffers, and the Senate will vote on the measure on Wednesday or Thursday.
To drum up support for more dollars, the White House is touting the program's value. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says the average fuel economy increase so far is 9.4 mpg; a 61% increase verses the vehicles destined for a sodium silicate bath. So far, 83% of the vehicles traded in have been trucks, while 60% of the vehicles purchased under the program have been cars. The White House estimates that Cash For Clunkers will save the average car buyer $700 - $1,000 in gas prices during the life of the vehicle.
Gallery: Review: 2009 Ford Focus SES Coupe
[Source: The Detroit News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 11)
Wobbly_ears 3:48PM (8/03/2009)
But...but...but.....Rush told me it was socialism....marxism......Hannity told me that saving American blue collar jobs was wrong.....The only sane way is to give tax rebates to multi-millionaires.....
How...could...it...be?? Are you telling me that Limbaugh/Hannity/Levin/Savage WRONG?????
Reply
CB 3:52PM (8/03/2009)
How will this save jobs next month when there are no more people by cars than there were before this program?
I not trying to be confrontational. But, seriously, how will this help in the mid to long term?
216 3:52PM (8/03/2009)
OH NOES
Randy 3:53PM (8/03/2009)
IMHO - Yes!
Don't really think I need to compound this thought.... Ya know?
Luis 3:55PM (8/03/2009)
CB: By jumpstarting consumer confidence. That's how. It's simply a "stimulus" to get people to move. Consumer confidence is a state of mind, and for over a year the MO for many has been to 'sit and wait' on making large decisions. It's similar to the housing tax credit, except this is having a much more immediate effect.
Joe K. 3:55PM (8/03/2009)
Not that I am condoning the sensationalism that Rushannivage operate with, but seriously, why do it yourself, isn't that hypocritical?
The fact that the old cars are being destroyed makes me wonder how effective this program is in a net energy solution. As for selling new cars, it seems to be working.
BoxerFanatic 3:59PM (8/03/2009)
No they are not wrong.
Because once everybody who has a clunker, and wants a Focus, already have them... the artificial demand will CRASH.
Tech bubble. Housing bubble, cash/stock market bubble (remember 14,000?), and now automotive bubble. Every time demand is artificially spiked, it crashes to compensate.
Good, viable cars are still being destroyed and sent to China, rather than being utilized to their fullest extent.
The government is still leveraging this with future borrowed money, because they are already broke.
Government is still printing money, monetizing it's own debt, borrowing from China, and will need to raise taxes.
Tax revenue stats just came out... the LOWEST adjusted decline in tax revenue since the great depression... (I hate that they call seizure "revenue", as if the government earns anything... they TAKE money away from people who earn it. WELL beyond what the Constitution limits the government to do.)
the government is spending money faster than ever, and tax money into the government is dropping to historic lows... and debt and deficits are at astronomical, soon to be unrecoverable highs...
Gee, what could be wrong with that...
It used to be Gub'ment cheese. Now it's Gub'ment cars. It is re-distribution, and waste of private wealth either way, and it is not acceptable.
How about if Ford wants to sell the cars, how about they sell their cars on merit, rather than on welfare assistance.
creigs9 4:00PM (8/03/2009)
1,000,000,000. Dollars
__________ = $ 12,422. per car
80,500 Cars
Maybe Rush, Sean,and the rest are at least part correct, hey it's your and China's money.
Luis 4:00PM (8/03/2009)
Hey Boxer, will you just leave the country already. Your anti-American rants are kind of annoying.
Luis 4:03PM (8/03/2009)
Creigs: the 80,500 represents about 1/3 of total CARS deals. Not ALL of them.
"The Transportation Department said Monday afternoon that based on 80,500 cash-for-clunker applications — which officials believe is about a third of the total deals so far — average fuel economy of the new vehicles was 9.6 miles per gallon better than the old ones, 25.4 m.p.g. versus 15.8 m.p.g., an improvement of 60.8 percent."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/business/04auto.html?hp
Again, AB leaves out some important facts.
farmer0904 4:06PM (8/03/2009)
it blows ones mind, how could the right wing nuts had been so wrong., after all they used their magic 8 ball to get all their informstion and that is always never wrong right? i know let me ask my magic 8 ball... ----------------------..............it says > Never trust a nut bag that screams I hope our president fails! hey the magic 8 ball is right after all !
JohnV 4:19PM (8/03/2009)
Luis - does over 9% unemployment have anything to do with consumer confidence?
A 'real' stimulus package for example would have given the $4500 and maybe some tax credits to small businesses purchasing delivery trucks/machinery. This would actually help businesses create business and in turn future jobs. Allowing my aunt to purchase a new car helps the dealer and manufacturer this month alone - remember the people with clunkers aren't likely to purchase another vehicle any time soon or they wouldn't own a car with less than $4500.
Wobbly_ears 4:23PM (8/03/2009)
@BoxerFanatic
Where was all this righteous outrage when Bush cronies like you went so gung ho into a phony war in Iraq? Where was this patriotism when Bush trampled on the freedoms in the guise of 'Terror'?
krische 4:23PM (8/03/2009)
@Boxer
I don't want to turn this into a huge political debate (looks like it's already heading there with every CARS thread).
But, were you complaining like this about the 4+ trillion dollars our past President added onto the national debt?
Luis 4:24PM (8/03/2009)
Businesses already get plenty of tax breaks. Purchasing a new vehicle for your business is already tax deductible. CARS allows ordinary middle-class Americans to trade in old, inefficient cars for new, more efficient models. At the same time dealers make sales, salesmen get commission, states and local governments get sales tax revenue and of course the manufacturers get to move excess inventory.
I'm not saying that businesses shouldn't get breaks, but there are plenty available for them.
And yes, consumer confidence is a state of mind. So if the economic news is upbeat, then people may start buying other things besides cars, in turn preventing more businesses from closing or maybe even some to open. This in the longer run helps unemployment. Hence the term "stimulus".
JohnV 4:29PM (8/03/2009)
Wasn't it our 'Confidence' that got us into this mess?
Banks were Confident their crazy lending practices could last forever without huge defaults
Families were Confident they could afford a new overly expensive house, or pay off lavish spending on credit
Chris 4:32PM (8/03/2009)
Well the people are speaking volumes but Congress and PrezBO aren't going to hear it. If Ford is truly accounting for such a large percentage of the Domestic C4C buys then it shows that many people are avoiding Goverment Motors (Be it Chrysler or GM).
the4thheat 4:36PM (8/03/2009)
By my rough calculation each car will save about 360 gallons of gas per year (this is with 15,000 miles per year driven). Times 250,000 cars and we get 90,000,000 gallons of gas saved.
Of course it's just a tiny drop in the bucket since we burn 140 billion gallons of gas per year but if this program eventually gets a million cars to get this kind of improvement then we'll be seeing a quarter billion gallons of gas saved. Doesn't sound that impressive but little shifts like that can actually impact gasoline prices. Of course if it gets too cheap then people will just burn more gas and negate all of this, lol.
Ray 4:41PM (8/03/2009)
I'll answer for Boxer,
YES we we're voicing this during the Bush years. It was fashionable then to bash him, and over the roar of the crowd we sounded like everyone else. Now that you people think things have changed, and they have not, you are starting to hear us because your pick is in office and you'll be damned if a dissenting opinion is heard. Name me one single thing that Obama has changed from the Bush years.
More power to the Federal Reserve: Obama and Bush. Check
Funding for unjust war in Iraq: Obama and Bush. Check
Bailout of banks: Obama and Bush. Check
Creating more money and increasing inflation: Obama and Bush. Check
Decreasing the rights of the American people: Obama with his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and the Patriot act under Bush which both sides voted in favor for. Check
See a pattern there?
Luis 4:42PM (8/03/2009)
John, you're right. Overconfidence was the problem before. Effective banking regulation would have preventing that overconfidence. What we've seen the past 1.5 years is under-confidence.
And to Boxer - last time I'll respond to you - it's anti-American to criticize our government. At least that's what we were told when the tables were turned from 2001-2008. Oh how quickly we forget.
Our Constitution sets up a representative democracy, and we've elected our representatives to make laws and regulations for us. Be that in the form of taxes, financial system regulations, auto emissions standards, whatever "We the people" deem appropriate. If We really don't like something, We have the option to write, call, email, protest and/or vote against the people making those decisions and advocating for their change. So while you may not like being taxed, your fellow Americans deem it appropriate and continue to elect their representatives who continue to tax them. Collectively our country is better off in some ways if we all chip in a little to help every out instead of each individual fending for themselves (acting very inefficiently).
"We" also have judges that are supposed to uphold our laws and, yes, alter or rescind them if they violate the Constitution. That's what the Judiciary is for. Not for rubber stamping laws, but either making sure they are applied appropriately and/or interpreting their constitutionality. There's nothing "activist" about a judge doing her or his job. That's just added in for good measure.