1. Ford Explorer
2. Ford F150 Pickup 2WD
3. Jeep Grand Cherokee 4 WD
4. Jeep Cherokee 4 WD
5. Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan
6. Chevrolet Blazer 4 WD
7. Ford Explorer 2 WD
8. Ford F150 Pickup 4 WD
9. Chevrolet C1500 Pickup 2 WD
10. Ford Windstar FWD Van
Top ten new car purchases - Cash for Clunkers
1. Toyota Corolla
2. Ford Focus FWD
3. Honda Civic
4. Toyota Prius
5. Toyota Camry
6. Ford Escape FWD
7. Hyundai Elantra
8. Dodge Caliber
9. Honda Fit
10. Chevrolet Cobalt
The top ten trade ins are all American brands, but the top 10 models purchased with U.S. taxpayer subsidies include 5 Japanese models and a S. Korean. This may be yet another of the unintended consequences of yet another "taxpayer supported bailout" for auto manufacturers and dealers. Using a blunt instrument like this legislation to attempt to shape consumer buying by using government subsidies (the giveaway of taxpayer dollars) shows that central planning by our government is not the way to go for the U.S. economy.
Another unintended consequence is the elimination of maybe half a million perfectly functional used cars that the economically challenged, young and old, can actually afford to own and operate to get to a job. The smaller number of used cars inventoried will now cost more due to supply and demand unbalancing. As another side track, the engine (which must be destroyed) contains some of the most valuable used parts of a scrapped vehicle, which will increase the cost for used motor parts for the most popular trade-ins. Take that track further, and the price of scrap metal will likely fall because of the sudden increased supply, damaging the scrap industry. The demand for the scrap may have to come from the Japanese, who will gain many of the benefits from this giveaway program.
The "environmental" angle is also a bogus add on, because much more serious emissions are produced during manufacturing than are being accounted for with this spin, recalculating for the drastically shortened expected life cycle of the vehicle. Maybe the program will be so successful that we can fire up a couple of extra coal power plants to manufacture some replacements. The employment side of that is arguable, but the "saving our environment" angle is phony.
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