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.
Trucks tend to be available in more variations than cars. That's because truck buyers have a wider variety of needs than car buyers, General Motors spokesman Brian Goebel said.
"There's just so many different uses for the truck, both retail and commercial, than with car purchasers," he said.
Sales of truck models would tend to be heavily diluted using the government's method because practically each version counts as a different vehicle. The difference in tallying methods would not affect the overall totals of trucks, as opposed to cars purchased under the program, only the sales rankings of individual models.
Sales of GM's Silverado truck, under the government's counting method, were divided among five different versions. So were the Ford F-150s. If the different versions of these trucks were considered the same vehicle, as auto sales are normally reported, sales of these trucks would look much heftier.
In the Cash for Clunkers program, trucks are actually subject to lower fuel economy requirements than cars, so it surprised many analysts that trucks weren't more popular.
Edmunds.com's "Top Ten Clunker Buys" list is based on transaction data collected directly from dealers.
NHTSA, the agency responsible for running Cash for Clunkers, was not immediately able to respond to a request for official Clunker sales tallies of several vehicles, including all their variations. When presented with Edmund's analysis, the agency didn't dispute that the way in which it counted the vehicles would tend to reduce the totals of vehicles with many variations. To top of page
Government uses a strange model to deny that the Ford Escape was the most bought car
Have your perfectly good vehicle destroyed so you can buy a new one that gets slightly better fuel economy and emissions that is greatly offset by the pollution from manufacturing it!
Oh my who would of ever thought that they were going to lie to try and make their program look better. What...I can't believe...just as they are trying to say the stimulus was a success...
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lol, yeah it's basically a car with an suv body... 3500lb towing capacity, independent suspension all around and awd instead of 4wd. That's cool that ford is making something that people actually want though.
and something tells me they're trying to play the program off as being 'green' http://www.cars.gov/
I'm going to laugh if there's an auto bubble because of this.
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1. Ford F-Series
2. Ford Explorer
3. Chevrolet C/K/Silverado
4. Jeep Grand Cherokee
5. Dodge Ram
6. Chevrolet Blazer
7. Jeep Cherokee
8. Dodge Grand Caravan
9. Dodge Dakota
10. Ford Ranger
so... it looks like they average 14 mpg, on the generous estimate side. Also note how terrible Chrysler is in general.
24 combined is a big increase over 18 combined, and its the number one seller but that doesn't mean its like 90% of sales.
I'm not sure what you're trying to get at.
also I imagine most people buying it are getting the I-4
part of the idea is about getting an old POS off the road, but the other part is about seling cars and/or trucks as well...
i dont think any dirt worshipper would argue replacing a 1973 buick with no muffler and it eating a qt of oil every trip with a new ford escape... even at the same fuel economy, the escape is the greener way to go....
part of the idea is about getting an old POS off the road, but the other part is about seling cars and/or trucks as well...
i dont think any dirt worshipper would argue replacing a 1973 buick with no muffler and it eating a qt of oil every trip with a new ford escape... even at the same fuel economy, the escape is the greener way to go....
Like most subsidies, there are going to be unexpected consequences and misallocations of resources caused by this program. Cash for Clunkers has distorted the used car market, making it much harder to find cheap transportation. That hurts people at the low end of the economic ladder. Ooops....
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Like most subsidies, there are going to be unexpected consequences and misallocations of resources caused by this program. Cash for Clunkers has distorted the used car market, making it much harder to find cheap transportation. That hurts people at the low end of the economic ladder. Ooops....
yeah...its not that hard to find cheap used cars...
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