'Clunker' vouchers allowed as eligible new cars get scarce
DETROIT -- As the "cash-for-clunkers" program finishes its fourth week, the government is offering a voucher program that could let consumers take delivery later of new cars that are unavailable now.
The Transportation Department said Thursday that consumers who want to purchase a new car not yet on a dealer lot can still be eligible for the car rebate program. This helps dealers and automakers who are finding it difficult to keep some hot-selling vehicles at the dealerships because of the popular government incentives.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the changes will expand buyers' choices and keep production lines running. He calls it a "wildly successful program."
Before the changes, eligible car buyers could only choose from vehicles on a dealer car lot. Ford, Toyota and Honda have increased production to meet demand from the clunkers program.
Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., had asked LaHood to consider allowing consumers to use vouchers.
Miller says she's heard from many dealers in her district who say they're out of cars that qualify and that it could be weeks or more than a month before more cars make it to their lots.
"We want to make sure we're maximizing the program," she said before the voucher change was announced. "We're not asking for any more money, or asking to expand the program."
At the end of July, some carmakers said they were starting to run low on popular models that fit the cash-for-clunkers program. Miller says it's a good problem to have, but one the government should be working to address.
The program is "exceeding everyone's expectations," she said. Depleted inventories are "a wonderful problem to have. We haven't have a conversation like that in this area for a long, long time."
While sales were up in July, Edmunds.com says interest in the program is beginning to wane. And dealers are getting angry because many aren't getting reimbursed by the government quickly enough, says Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.
