Word: cashes
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...even the most optimistic greens could have predicted that the federal government's cash-for-clunkers program would work this well - more than 240,000 Americans have traded in their clunkers so far, and the program has already burned through its first round of funding. But green groups were a bit wary of cash for clunkers at the outset, concerned that the legislation's requirements on fuel economy were too lax. Under the program, newly purchased passenger cars must have a minimum fuel-economy rating of 22 miles per gallon - hardly superefficient - and they need to be only 4 m.p.g...
...initial data released by Department of Transportation, however, shows that so far cash for clunkers has been a green success. The clunkers averaged 15.8 m.p.g., compared with 25.4 m.p.g. for the new vehicles purchased, for an average fuel-economy increase of 61%. On the whole, American drivers are trading in inefficient trucks and SUVs for much more efficient passenger cars. Car manufacturers like Nissan are already retooling some models to improve their fuel economy so they can qualify for the credits. The early numbers were enough to convince California Senator Dianne Feinstein to go from criticizing cash for clunkers...
...Czubay, Ford vice president for U.S. marketing, sales and service, said Ford already had a relatively strong month in progress before the cash-for-clunkers program started, but it certainly helped. "We achieved a sales increase even though we decreased incentive spending in an increasingly competitive environment," he said. (See the most important cars of all time...
...Japanese automakers fared less well. Toyota reported that its sales tumbled 11% year over year in July, while Nissan's fell nearly 25% and Honda's fell 17%, despite the government incentive program. However, Jim Lentz, Toyota Motor Sales president, said the cash-for-clunkers program reduced the recessionary drag on sales and offered a nice dividend for the environment. "Clunker-related Toyota sales over the seven days alone will save customers an estimated 8 million gal. of gas and $20 million in gas spending over the next year," he said. (See the best cars from the 2009 Detroit Auto...
...everyone sees the program as a win-win. Economist David Rosenberg at Toronto investment firm Gluskin Sheff worries that today's sales boost could lead to tomorrow's sales slump. He likens the current cash-for-clunker boost to the 0% financing that automakers introduced in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. As a result of those incentives, motor-vehicle sales perked up and the economy got a nice boost. "But what all these gimmicks do is bring forward consumption - they don't create anything more than a brief spending splurge at the expense of future performance," Rosenberg...