Cash for Clunkers has come to an end just a little more than a month after it truly kicked off in earnest. The U.S. Department of Transportation has compiled statistics on the program. Here is a look at those statistics, released Aug. 26, 2009, along with a little explanation of what some of it means.
Dealer Transactions
Number Submitted: 690,114
Dollar Value: $2.87 billion. That means about $100 million was not spent or roughly equivalent to the money reimbursed for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Or, up to 28,500 car buyers had the door shut prematurely.
Top 10 New Vehicles Purchased
- Toyota Corolla
- Honda Civic
- Toyota Camry
- Ford Focus FWD
- Hyundai Elantra
- Nissan Versa
- Toyota Prius
- Honda Accord
- Honda Fit
- Ford Escape FWD
All car companies were suffering from poor sales, but I would have to say the real winners in Cash for Clunkers were Hyundai and Ford. It’s great to know there are going to be more Ford Focuses and Hyundai Elantras on the road. There both great cars that don’t get the respect they deserve.
New Vehicles Manufacturers
- Toyota 19.4%
- General Motors 17.6%
- Ford 14.4%
- Honda 13.0%
- Nissan 8.7%
- Hyundai 7.2%
- Chrysler 6.6%
- Kia 4.3%
- Subaru 2.5%
- Mazda 2.4%
- Volkswagen 2.0%
- Suzuki 0.6%
- Mitsubishi 0.5%
- MINI 0.4%
- Smart 0.2%
- Volvo 0.1%
- All Other <0.1%
The companies that got the real bounce from Cash for Clunkers were Hyundai, which sold approximately 49,000 cars during Cash for Clunkers vs. June 2009 when it sold 37,900 vehicles; Subaru with 15,000 vehicles vs. 18,600 in June (and this is only Cash for Clunker vehicles – it doesn’t factor in other sales); and Mazda, with about 15,000 vehicles vs. 13,729 in June total sales). It’s too bad Suzuki didn’t get a bigger bounce. It really is a good car company that deserves a stronger presence in the U.S.
Top 10 Trade-in Vehicles
- Ford Explorer 4WD
- Ford F150 Pickup 2WD
- Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD
- Ford Explorer 2WD
- Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan 2WD
- Jeep Cherokee 4WD
- Chevrolet Blazer 4WD
- Chevrolet C1500 Pickup 2WD
- Ford F150 Pickup 4WD
- Ford Windstar FWD Van
All American down the line, which is too bad, because that is that fewer American cars on the road. I think there were plenty of foreign clunkers out there that could have been traded without the mileage restrictions.
Vehicles Purchased by Category
- Passenger Cars: 404,046
- Category 1 Truck: 231,651
- Category 2 Truck: 46,836
- Category 3 Truck: 2,408
Vehicle Trade-in by Category
- Passenger Cars: 109,380
- Category 1 Truck: 450,778
- Category 2 Truck: 116,909
- Category 3 Truck: 8,134
The government reports that 84% of trade-ins under the program are trucks, and 59% of new vehicles purchased are cars. I’ll allow them this little bit of hyperbole because the facts seem to support it, “The program worked far better than anyone anticipated at moving consumers out of old, dirty trucks and SUVs and into new more fuel-efficient cars.”
Average Fuel Economy
- New vehicles Mileage: 24.9 MPG
- Trade-in Mileage: 15.8 MPG
- Overall increase: 9.2 MPG, or a 58% improvement
Cars purchased under the program are, on average, 19% above the average fuel economy of all new cars currently available, and 59% above the average fuel economy of cars that were traded in. This means the program raised the average fuel economy of the fleet, while getting the dirtiest and most polluting vehicles off the road, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported.
Requested Voucher Dollar Amount by State:
- ALABAMA - $31,251,500
- ALASKA - $4,868,500
- ARIZONA - $39,542,500
- ARKANSAS - $23,402,500
- CALIFORNIA - $326,822,000
- COLORADO - $37,676,500
- CONNECTICUT - $40,114,000
- DELAWARE - $11,235,000
- DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - $67,500
- FLORIDA - $146,565,000
- GEORGIA - $70,496,000
- GUAM - $675,000
- HAWAII - $7,333,500
- IDAHO - $11,655,000
- ILLINOIS - $143,613,000
- INDIANA - $65,797,000
- IOWA - $37,728,000
- KANSAS - $31,496,500
- KENTUCKY - $40,246,500
- LOUISIANA - $33,376,500
- MAINE - $16,579,500
- MARYLAND - $74,903,000
- MASSACHUSETTS - $64,855,000
- MICHIGAN - $132,407,500
- MINNESOTA - $73,160,500
- MISSISSIPPI - $12,463,500
- MISSOURI - $61,271,500
- MONTANA - $6,461,000
- NEBRASKA - $21,784,500
- NEVADA - $14,582,000
- NEW HAMPSHIRE - $23,045,500
- NEW JERSEY - $103,375,500
- NEW MEXICO - $13,941,500
- NEW YORK - $156,292,000
- NORTH CAROLINA - $78,601,500
- NORTH DAKOTA - $8,938,000
- OHIO - $136,267,000
- OKLAHOMA - $37,422,000
- OREGON - $37,531,500
- PENNSYLVANIA - $138,651,500
- PUERTO RICO - $2,252,000
- RHODE ISLAND - $10,690,500
- SOUTH CAROLINA - $37,207,500
- SOUTH DAKOTA - $10,367,500
- TENNESSEE - $50,949,000
- TEXAS - $183,776,500
- UTAH - $24,102,500
- VERMONT - $9,879,000
- VIRGIN ISLANDS - $1,553,000
- VIRGINIA - $98,523,500
- WASHINGTON - $55,927,500
- WEST VIRGINIA - $13,477,000
- WISCONSIN - $70,165,000
- WYOMING - $2,513,000
Who knew they even sold new cars on the Virgin Islands and Guam? Just kidding, but I was surprised to see how low the numbers were ($67,500) for the District of Columbia.
