Filed under: Car Buying , Classics , Government/Legal Congress allocated close to $1 billion for the Cash for Clunkers program. That’s billion with nine zeros. And all that money might be gone by midnight tonight. This, according to reports by both the Detroit Free Press and Edmunds AutoObserver . We learned earlier that the C4C program has proved to be much more successful than initially thought, with 22,782 consumers taking advantage of…

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Autoblog

Topics: entry, press, carbuying

The White House and Congressional leadership on Friday are reviewing the popular Cash for Clunkers program that gives consumers thousands of dollars for trading in old cars so the program can be extended into the Fall. The program proved so popular that the Department of Transportation warned lawmakers that the program appeared to have burned through its $1 billion funding in just one week. Under the program, a buyer who trades a vehicle that gets 18 …

David Kiley

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Auto Beat - BusinessWeek

Topics: cars, government, democrats, california

Filed under: Car Buying , Government/Legal The government’s Cash for Clunkers program only got off the ground on Monday, yet 4,026 eligible vehicles were reportedly swapped out in the program’s first day. The program already has 20,564 certified Clunkers dealers, which gives eligible customers plenty of places to to cash in on the federal program. That is, assuming the EPA didn’t make your vehicle ineligible in the 11th hour. Hitting 4,000 Cash for Clunkers-related sales in the first day is impressive, but that’s only a small…

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Autoblog

Topics: sales, photo, clunkers

There is no denying Japan’s automakers took some extreme measures at the start of the year. As sales slumped around the world, nothing was safe from cost cutting. Mitsubishi Motors apologized before one press conference for not providing water as an emergency cost saving measure. The chief engineer of a new Lexus shared a car with two colleagues rather than take the bullet train from Toyota City to Tokyo, even though it took four hours versus 90 minutes on the train, to save $300 in…

Ian Rowley

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Auto Beat - BusinessWeek

Topics: markets and management, train, financial, japan

Filed under: Government/Legal Last time we checked in with the issue of texting while driving, the NHTSA practically claimed it was gagged by Congress . Fast forward a week — after the New York Times report and the results of a Virginia Tech study — and now a group of Democratic senators is proposing a nationwide ban on texting behind the wheel. In a study of truckers, VA Tech said the increased risk of an accident was 23-times higher when texting …

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Autoblog

Topics: texting, legal, senator, senate

http:// The controversial and much debated “Cash For Clunkers” bill is having the desired effect of boosting car sales, according to analysts and a few auto executives. Edmunds.com, the auto buying site, predicts that sales in July will be up 10% from June despite the fact that the program was only in effect the last week of the month. J.D. Power and Associates also predicts a bump, as well, predicting…

David Kiley

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Auto Beat - BusinessWeek

Topics: government, recession, cars and economics, president, money

Filed under: Etc. , Government/Legal Colorado’s specialty “Committed to a Cure” license plate was rolled out in 2005. According to the women behind it, the goal was to “create broad awareness about the breast cancer crusade,” and Coloradans have paid $50 to put the plates on their cars. A recently passed bill in the Colorado Legislature will add another $25 to that fee, and that extra surcharge has compelled the current plate’s…

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Autoblog

Topics: vanityplates, licenseplate, colorado, government

The head of the White House task force on the auto industry Ron Bloom said Monday that the task force will not be micro-managing GM and Chrysler, especially when it comes to products, and that the Feds will sell their stakes in the companies as early as possible. The boards won’t have to “check” before making decisions, said Bloom, who took over from Steven Rattner two weeks ago. Bloom was addressing a congressionally appointed panel in Detroit. “The companies’ long-term viability and …

David Kiley

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Auto Beat - BusinessWeek

Topics: car guys, obama, lending

Filed under: Budget , Europe , Government/Legal , Smart Note to Smart Fortwo owners in the Netherlands: Don’t park your itty-bitty city cars near easily-accessible bodies of water. If you thought the car’s errant transmission and its rough-and-tumble shifts were your biggest concern , you’ve likely never heard of the latest craze sweeping Amsterdam: “Smart Smijten.” That’s ‘Smart Tipping’ in American, and the reality of the situation is just about as distasteful as it …

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Autoblog

Topics: smarttippingamsterdam, smarttipping, amsterdam, smart

The Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) program , otherwise known as “Cash for Clunkers” program, which pays consumers to junk old cars and buy new ones kicked off Monday to cheers and jeers from auto companies, dealers, environmentalists and consumers. The program pays consumers $3,500 to $4,500 for an old car that gets below 18 mpg for a new one that gets at least two miles per gallon more. The details…

David Kiley

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Auto Beat - BusinessWeek

Topics: government, cars and economics, smart, rating