A Clunker Of A Program

A Clunker Of A Program

The "Cash for Clunkers" program had at least two goals:

1. Revive the U.S. car industry.

2. Replace vehicles that get terrible gas mileage with cars that get better mileage. That's part of why the list of vehicles that you could trade in for $3500 or $4500 was based on their EPA mileage figures.

So what did Americans buy with these allowances? According to the August 7, 2009 CNN:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- What are people trading their clunkers in for? It depends on who you ask.

The government's results showed small cars as the top choice for shoppers looking for Cash for Clunker deals. But an independent analysis by Edmunds.com disputed those results, and showed that two full-size trucks and a small crossover SUV were actually among the top-ten buys.

The discrepancy is a result of the methods used. Edmunds.com uses traditional sales measurements, tallying sales by make and model. The government uses a more arcane measurement method that subdivides models according to engine and transmission types, counting them as separate models.

For example, the Ford Escape is available in six different versions including two- and four-wheel drive and hybrid versions. The government counts each version as a different vehicle using guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency. Only the front wheel drive, non-hybrid version made the government's top ten list.

The Ford Escape crossover SUV, instead of being the seventh-most popular vehicle under the program, as the government ranked it, was actually the best seller, according to Edmunds.com. The government pegged the Ford Focus as the top seller.

You would think, if the goal was to replace low mileage vehicles with high mileage cars (which is a worthy goal), that there would have been some restrictions on the vehicles to purchase. But that would require a bit more intelligence than our government seems to have.

I frequently hear leftists argue in favor of intelligent, thoughtful, farseeing governmental management of the economy. Well, that would be wonderful. Those intelligent, thoughtful, farseeing bureaucrats should be arriving on their flying unicorns shortly.