Results tagged “Cash for Clunkers” from Biz Waves

You may have heard that the Corolla was the top Cash for Clunkers seller. But the Civic came in a close second. Here's the list, courtesy of the Associated Press.

The government posted new data late Friday on the government's Cash for Clunkers rebate program. Here's a look at the top-selling new vehicles through the program when multiple engine options, flexible-fuel vehicles and hybrid versions are taken into account.

TOP SELLERS

1. Toyota Corolla 29,488

2. Honda Civic 28,456

3. Toyota Camry 27,137

4. Ford Focus 22,388

5. Ford Escape 21,894

6. Honda CR-V 20,106

7. Hyundai Elantra 19,797

8. Chevrolet Silverado 16,330

9. Nissan Versa 16,300

10. Ford F150 16,263

11. Honda Accord 15,922

12. Nissan Altima 15,426

13. Toyota RAV4 15,255

14. Toyota Prius 15,013

15. Ford Fusion 13,415

16. Chevrolet Cobalt 13,335

17. Honda Fit 12,361

18. Nissan Sentra 12,158

19. Chevrolet Aveo 11,557

20. Toyota Tacoma 10,692

An interesting and unintended consequence of Cash for Clunkers.

Now Is Not a Good Time to Buy a Car, Edmunds.com CEO Says

In the market for a new car but your current set of wheels didn't qualify for the "cash for clunkers" program? Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl says hold off, if you can. His advice "would be to wait probably until November" when inventory levels normalize.

In an interesting market dynamic, the Clunkers program drove up demand so much, certain vehicles actually got more expensive. Prices "were up during the program and they're still up today because inventories are still very lean," he says.

Read more on car buying.

Auto website Edmunds.com says: Cash for Clunkers party is over, and now the auto industry is likely to experience a painful hangover."

Edmunds expects a "steep decline in sales in the coming weeks based upon a significant drop in 'purchase intent' behavior of its Web site visitors."

"Current purchase intent is down 50 percent from the Cash for Clunkers peak, and down 11 percent from the June average," Edmunds.com Senior Analyst David Tompkins said in a release Wednesday.

The federal Cash for Clunkers program that officially launched today will cost taxpayers $20,000 apiece, according to auto website Edmunds.com.

That is in order to drive about 50,000 incremental new car sales.

"How is this possible? Edmunds.com's research shows that typically 200,000 vehicles worth less than $4,500 are traded in for new vehicles every three months. At best the current Cash for Clunkers program will fund 250,000 such transactions in the same time period--a gain of only 50,000 vehicles. Given that this program is budgeted to cost $1,000,000,000, this increase will come at the cost of $20,000 per extra sale."