You know who else like the cars for clunker program beside Ford?

Question

Honda and Toyota. "the top five cars that were bought were the Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Prius and Ford Escape"

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/03/clunker...

"The Transportation Department said about 80,500 transactions had been processed under the clunkers program as of Saturday, the end of its first week. Of those, 47% involved vehicles made by GM, Ford or Chrysler, the administration said."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124931253429401705...

It looks like our government not only subsidized the American auto industry, but also its competitors.

Answer 1

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Hmmm? I'm a little torn.

I hate the Big 3 yet I love America?

Proud owner of an American Toyota and Nissan.

I will start worrying about where my cars are made when the Big 3 does. right now most don't realize that their "American" car is most likely made in Mexico or Canada.

Kiss my @$$ GM, FORD and Chrysler.

Answer 2

Yep, traded in the crappy Tahoe for a Toyota Avalon. I was considering the Ford Fusion Hybrid, but needed more room in the back seat. Ford is coming out with some fuel efficient cars...fusion, Show Tarsus. To bad Ford couldn't build a manufacturing plant in the USA like they built in Brazil. Too bad the Unions control GM, Ford & Chrysler. Well the unions have cost 2 US manufactures into bankruptcy, looks like Ford upper management had vision and kept the wolves from the front door. What is a shame is that GM gets a different lending rate than the other car manufactures. Isn't our gov't just wonderful, bail out their buddies at GM and screw the workers at Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Honda.

Answer 3

Ah, but those competitors own and operate factories here in the US. Their US divisions employ thousands of US citizens from manufacturing all the way up to executive posts. So are you saying you don't want Americans working?

Secondly, the program is moving product. Ford showed the first quarterly profit in over three years partially because of this program. Americans are buying, getting the economy moving. I think this is a good thing.

Finally, the new cars on the road will use less energy. One of the facets of the deal is that the new cars have to have much better mpg than the one they're trading in. On average, the mpg has increased by 10. Up to 80% of the vehicles being traded in are SUV's and large or mid-sized trucks used for individual commuting. That gas savings will help keep fuel prices down and help our economy move forward while also cutting down on pollution and our dependence on foreign oil.

I thought these were things Republicans, conservatives, and libertarians cared about.

Answer 4

Who else other than those companies? Well, lets see:

- All the men and women who built those 80500+ cars

- All the men and women who got new cars for $3500 or $4500 cheaper than they should have

- All the people working at the dealerships that processed the purchases

- All the auto body shops that will work on these cars to maintain them

- Any company that sells accessories for cars

Thats a short list, but some of the people that I could think off right off the bat.

Answer 5

All new car dealers that registered to be apart of the program Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, Kia....... you get the idea.

Answer 6

Generally Toyota and Honda have more fuel efficient cars. I'm not going to buy an American car simply because its American. I will buy a high quality car that is fuel efficient and safe.... Which won't be a Ford.

Answer 7

You might consider this: It gets a lot of gas-guzzling heaps of the road and it gives consumers money to put back into the economy. Selling more cars means more jobs for more people. You should check out the positive side of some of the efforts to save middle-class America by this administration. The bad guys have left the building!

Answer 8

I also just heard that anyone who took that clunker program waived their rights to communication privacy when using their home computers. There's apparently a clause that is worded tricky, but ends up allowing the government to hack into one's home computers and tracking keystrokes, and these people don't even realize it. This is very concerning! I'm not planning to use the program, but I need to look into this further. Damn! If this is true, our government is not only not on our side, it's totally against us!

Answer 9

Car manufactuerer CEOs?

Answer 10

Well, that's very interesting.

But to answer your initial question, my mom. She's getting a new car this year, as her minivan is nearly a decade and a half old.