As if we needed more news on Cash for Clunkers, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced late yesterday that it has begun sending out reimbursement checks to dealerships participating in the program. Meanwhile, Chrysler says that it has seen significantly increased showroom traffic thanks to its “Double Ca$h for Your Old Car” program that matches the federal dollars with a hefty incentive.
The government said that, as of yesterday morning, it had processed 4,026 Cash for Clunkers deals worth about $17 million in vouchers. Many dealers had begun accepting trade-ins long before the program was announced, but they could not begin applying for vouchers until last week. Dealers are allowed to pre-approve vehicles and then apply for the rebate money from NHTSA.
Dealers have said that they fear the program will run out of money well before it ends and that applying for the reimbursements is very difficult.
“I have over $300,000 outstanding,” Gordon Stewart, who owns Chevrolet and Toyota dealerships in Michigan, Florida, Alabama and Georgia, told Automotive News. Stewart says that his dealerships have sold nearly 80 vehicles under the program’s conditions but that his staff has only been able to apply for rebates for three of those sales.
Chrysler traffic
Chrysler says that 70 percent of visitors to its showrooms last weekend were drawn in by the Cash for Clunkers program, although just 30 percent actually brought trade-ins that qualified. The automaker has not yet released figures on how many new cars were sold as a result of the program, however.
“We sold more new vehicles on Friday and Saturday than any other Friday and Saturday the last year and a half,” John Schenden, owner of Denver Pro Chrysler- Jeep in Denver, told Automotive News. The dealership sold 17 cars during the two days.
Chrysler has said that it will match the $3,500 or $4,500 offered by the federal government. The large rebates offered on many of the automakers products help discount the automaker’s lowest priced model and most heavily-discounted model, the PT Cruiser, to around $9,500.
