Government Funded Program, is it Working?

Well, it’s hard to say.  Cash for Clunkers is noticeably the most popular government funded program to appear in the effort to help our economy.  If you are not familiar, this program gives car buyers up to $4,500 when they trade in older, environmentally unfriendly cars, if they are buying more fuel-efficient cars.  Thus far, Ford is the only car company to report a sales increase, which is up by 9%.  We should take this as good news, because really, news in the automobile industry has been nothing but awful.  So to hear of any sales increase is a good sign.  The guidelines of this program have also hurt certain sales for Ford, SUV’s and trucks have noticeably (and obviously) fallen significantly from last year.  While they have noticed this sales increase, they have no record of the number of customers who have taken advantage of Cash for Clunkers.  This makes many wonder if the program is even the reason that sales have risen because Ford had recorded a strong month before the program started.  In the meantime, the program may be coming to an end.  Cash for Clunkers is running out of the $1 billion given by congress to prompt auto sales and reduce auto emissions.  But the House just approved another $2 billion in funding last Friday, although the Senate has not yet acted.  Let’s hope we hear some good news from other automakers soon.