The US government’s popular ‘cash for clunkers’ programme for new car buyers, sent vehicle sales soaring in August, although some of the biggest winners were foreign companies.
At Ford, sales of cars and trucks rose to 181,826 in August, up 11 per cent on July and a rise of 17.2 per cent compared to August 2008.
General Motors saw sales rise to 246,479, up an impressive 30 per cent on July’s figures but still 20 per cent lower than August 2008. Year on year retail sales were down 17 per cent while fleet sales declined 29 per cent. The company said it was extending its sales partnership with eBay, selling cars online, until the end of September.
Cash for clunkers, or the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) scheme, provided rebates of up to $4,500 on purchases of fuel-efficient new vehicles at a cost to taxpayers of $2.9 billion. It was widely hailed a success after notching up nearly 700,000 sales in the space of a month. The programme closed on 24 August.
Low stocks of smaller cars held back growth at Chrysler. At 93,222 units, sales of cars and trucks were up five per cent on July’s figures, but 15 per cent down August 2008. Chrysler said it is now boosting production by 50,000 vehicles.
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Some of the biggest beneficiaries of the cash for clunkers programme were Japanese manufacturers.
Honda recorded its best ever August figures with sales up of cars and trucks up 40.8 per cent on July to 161,439 vehicles. This represents a 14.2 per cent rise compared with August last year.
Three Honda vehicles, the Civic, Accord and Fit were among the top 10 new vehicles purchased under the cash for clunkers programme. However, year-to-date sales remain down 24.8 per cent to 806,907.