CASH FOR CLUNKERS STATISTICS

The Top Ten ‘Clunkers’ Are All Detroit Brands

Lee Cary

The National Highway Traffic Administration today released up-to-date “Cash for Clunkers” statistics. The numbers tell a tale when “clunker” brands are compared to new vehicles purchased in exchange.

Here’s the raw data (bolded in original):


C.A.R.S. Program Statistics

August 5, 2009


Dealer Transactions

Number Submitted: 184,304

Dollar Value: $775.2M


Top 10 New Vehicles Purchased

1. Toyota Corolla

2. Ford Focus FWD

3. Honda Civic

4. Toyota Prius

5. Toyota Camry

6. Hyundai Elantra

7. Ford Escape FWD

8. Dodge Caliber

9. Honda Fit

10. Chevrolet Cobalt


New Vehicles Manufacturers

General Motors 18.7%

Toyota 17.9%

Ford 16.0%

Honda 11.6%

Chrysler 10.6%

Nissan 7.0%

Hyundai 6.6%

Kia 3.8%

Mazda 2.3%

Subaru 2.2%

Volkswagen 1.9%

Suzuki 0.4%

MINI 0.3%

Mitsubishi 0.3%

Smart 0.2%

Volvo 0.1%

All Other 0.1%


[...]

Top 10 Trade-in Vehicles

1. Ford Explorer 4WD

2. Ford F150 Pickup 2WD

3. Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD

4. Jeep Cherokee 4WD

5. Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan 2WD

6. Ford Explorer 2WD

7. Chevrolet Blazer 4WD

8. Ford F150 Pickup 4WD

9. Chevrolet C1500 Pickup 2WD

10. Ford Windstar FWD Van

Vehicles Purchased by Category
[...]


Thus far, 83% of trade-ins under the program are trucks, and 59% of new vehicle purchases are cars. The program is working far better than anyone anticipated at moving consumers out of old, dirty trucks and SUVs and into new more fuel-efficient cars.


Vehicle Trade-in by Category

[...]

Average Fuel Economy

New vehicles Mileage: 25.3 MPG

Trade-in Mileage: 15.8 MPG.

Overall increase: 9.6 MPG, or a 61% improvement


Cars purchased under the program are, on average, 21% above the average fuel economy of all new cars currently available, and 63% above the average fuel economy of cars that were traded in. This means the program is raising the average fuel economy of the fleet, while getting the dirtiest and most polluting vehicles off the road.

Requested Voucher Dollar Amount by State:

[...]

Several observations follow:

The brand exchange is mixed. Although some domestic brands are being traded for other domestic brands, the net gain is toward foreign brands. Over 50% of those foreign brands are manufactured in the U.S—most in non-UAW plants.The question is: Where do the bulk of profits go?

The list of top ten “clunkers” includes all domestic brands. Consequently, many U.S brand “clunkers” are being exchanged for foreign brands.