Ford Builds CARS

Ford is jumping on the recently-signed Car Allowance Rebate System (a.k.a. Cash for Clunkers) to lure customers into the showroom. Ford’s home page includes a highlighted link to the “ Recycle Your Ride” program. A prospective Ford buyer can enter details about their current vehicle into a drop-down menu system and quickly see if it qualifies for scrappage. They can also discover which Ford models earn the $4500 or $3500 federal voucher against the crusher candidate. So far the Dodge, Chevrolet, Honda and Nissan websites have nothing. Toyota and Volkswagen both offer primitive informational pages, but nothing to match the sophistication of Ford’s effort. You would think the government-owned auto companies would be all over the government-run incentive program. But no. And get this: KBB’s man tells the New York Times that the consumers might be better off without the vouchers . . .

Because the old vehicle will be destroyed, the credit is given instead of the regular trade-in value — not in addition to it — though some dealers might compensate customers for the vehicle’s scrap value.

The rules mean that the owner of a 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer, which qualifies because it gets about 16 miles per gallon, would get nearly $2,000 less under the program than by making a normal trade-in. Conversely, a 1992 Honda Civic, which is worth only a few hundred dollars, does not qualify because its gas mileage is too high.

“It has to be worth not very much and it also has to get very poor E.P.A. fuel economy,” said Jack R. Nerad, the executive editorial director and market analyst for Kelley Blue Book. “It’s a fairly narrow profile. You’re talking about people who are probably economically challenged to begin with and they have to be able to qualify for a new car purchase in the midst of a deep recession. Those are some difficult parameters.”

And away we go.