Secretary LaHood Announces Wind Down to Hugely Popular CARS Program
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday that after a wildly successful run, the cash for clunkers program will come to a close on Monday, August 24th at 8 p.m. EDT.
"This program has been a lifeline to the automobile industry, jump starting a major sector of the economy and putting people back to work," Secretary LaHood said. "At the same time, we've been able to take old, polluting cars off the road and help consumers purchase fuel efficient vehicles."
As of today, the government estimates that the CARS program has recorded more than 457,000 dealer transactions worth $1.9 billion in rebates. A field survey conducted this week estimates Volvo retailers have sold around 600 new Volvos through the "Clunkers" program.
The Car Allowance Rebate System, as it is officially known, has sparked intense interest, filling auto showrooms with buyers and revitalizing manufacturing plants. As a result of the program, the automotive inventory has been depleted and both General Motors and Ford are ramping up production, adding shifts and rehiring laid-off workers.
"It's been a thrill to be part of the best economic news story in America," Secretary LaHood said. "Now we are working toward an orderly wind down of this very popular program."
Secretary LaHood said the Monday night end date will allow car dealers and buyers plenty of time to finalize purchases and submit applications for rebate from the remainder of the $3 billion provided by Congress. Based on conservative estimates of valid transactions so far, DOT analysts have projected that there is enough money to continue accepting submissions until the Monday deadline.
Applications for rebates will not be accepted after 8 p.m. EDT Monday and dealers should not make further sales without receiving all the necessary paperwork from their customers. Dealers are also strongly advised to submit complete applications, which will expedite payment. Dealers will still be able to resubmit rejected applications after the deadline. The Department of Transportation is continuing to expand the number of people processing dealer applications for rebates by adding federal workers to the outside contractors currently at work.
Retailers across the country have conducted dozens, sometimes even hundreds of Clunker deals. But the government has reimbursed only a fraction of those transactions to date. For small businesses, that loss of cash is devastating. Our retailers need to know that the government is working to improve the reimbursement process, and that the reimbursements are guaranteed.
We have learned that retailers should watch for an e-mail from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHTSA will be contacting those dealers who have experienced the most transaction rejections, and will be inviting them to a webinar that will address the most common submission errors. The webinar will be made available to ALL dealers on the www.cars.gov website at a later date.
For more information about the wind-down of the "Cash for Clunkers" program, please visit CARS.gov.