August 7th, 2009
Which clunkers for which new cars?
The hyrbids are not the most popular cars among those trading in their old vehicles to take advantage of the cash for clunkers. The average MPG improvement for the new car buyers is about 9. More than fifty percent better than many of the old cars to be junker under this federal subsidy.
President Obama has signed into law the $2-billion additional money for the clunker program.
Here are the government’s figures. The top three clunkers, now junkers: Ford Explorer, Ford F150 pickup and Jeep Grand Cherokee. The 3 most popular new cars getting the subsidies: Toyota Corolla, followed by the Ford Focus, then Honda Civic.
Here are differing results tallied by Edmunds.com, an independent auto analytical firm. They find new trucks leading the list. Edmunds’ ranking: Ford Escape, Ford Focus, Jeep Patriot. The top car from a Japanese firm: Honda Civic at #6. Toyota Corolla drops to #9 on the Edmunds list, which frankly is more logically calculated. It lumps all various sub-models under one heading.
Even if all this money does put more than a half million more efficient cars on the street, it will bring a small decrease in America’s greenhouse emissions.
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A newsman since 1969, Harry Fuller has worked for CBS, ABC, CNBC Europe, CNET and was founding news director at TechTV. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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