August 25, 2009
U.S. car dealers watched their lots grow empty on Monday as crowds rushed to trade in gas guzzlers during the final weekend of the popular Cash-for-Clunkers program.
The hectic pace of the 3-billion-dollar rebate program accelerated in the final weekend, after the government announced the program would end at 8 p.m. Monday, two weeks earlier than expected.
Adding to the urgency, some dealers had said they would stop Cash-for-Clunkers sales even earlier to make sure the government reimbursed them for the rebates, or because they didn't have enough eligible cars left.
Though short of some new models, such as the Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Nissan Altima, many dealers were still selling as many cars as they could before Monday night's deadline.
Cash-for-Clunkers has been wildly successful in spurring new-car sales and getting gas-guzzling models off the road, though some energy experts have said the pollution reduction is too small to be cost-effective.
Customers receive rebates of between 3,500 dollars and 4,500 dollars, depending on the improvement in fuel efficiency from their old vehicle to their new one.
As of early Friday, nearly half a million cars had been sold through the program.
But the new sales left many dealers worried about not being reimbursed by the government. As of Friday, dealers had been reimbursed for just a small fraction of the billions in sales.
Earlier this month, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law a 2-billion-dollar expansion of the program after the first 1 billion dollars ran out in the first days of the program. U.S. Congress approved a transfer of unspent funds from the 787-billion-dollar stimulus package to refuel the program.