#Cash-for-Clunkers

The fact (if you can call it that) that China’s government will bring back a Cash-for-clunkers program caused headlines around the world. It also spurred news writers to new peaks of creativity. At the same time, Chinese farmers could protect GM’s honor. Let’s investigate.

Letter to the editor of the New Times by Robert Pankhurst:

“On my drive home yesterday, an advertisement over my car radio told me how much the Cancer Society needed old cars donated to help them fight cancer. Then I remembered watching the Youtube video where cars were turned in for the government program called “Cash for Clunkers.”

I’m afraid our friends over at Gasgoo need a little parental oversight. Or the good folks at China’s premiere auto business site shouldn’t been drinking while posting. Today, they report that the Chinese government invested 5 billion yuan ($736m) in the “cash for clunkers” program last year. As of May 31, only 1.7 billion yuan ($250m) were handed out, with 3.3 billon yuan ($486m) left. No surprise to us. We never thought much of the program. In January, we said: “Due to the relatively young fleet in China, the impact of the cash for clunkers program on sales is expected to be small.” So far so good.

Now for a huge leap of logic:

“Therefore, the country’s automobile consumption in the next seven months will certainly be doubled,” say our friends at Gasgoo.

Shenme? (Say what????)

Now that Japan has said kankei nai ne (who cares, not worth the trouble) and opened their cash for clunkers program to American imports, even if they did not go through mandatory homologation, and even if they weren’t rated by the Japanese government to get 35.5 mpg or better, which car is the first to qualify? You are looking at it – very closely. It’s a, it’s a, it’s a …

Today’s Nikkei [sub] clarified the Japanese position on US cars qualifying for Nipponese cash fur clunkers money. The program offers up to 250,000 yen ($2,800) in subsidies to buyers of cars that meet Japanese fuel efficiency standards.

According to the Nikkei, about 30 percent of U.S. imports to Japan enter the country through the “Preferential Handling Procedure,” that does not require them to pass Japanese fuel efficiency tests. These cars, which had been excluded from the program, will now be considered – based on mileage data collected in the U.S. Good luck with that.

The nerve, the nerve: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada when they met – halfway in Hawaii, so that both had to travel – on Tuesday “that concerns are rising in the U.S. Congress” about Japan’s cash for clunkers incentive scheme, Reuters reports.

As if there aren’t other pressing problems. Such as the economy, global warming, saving the whales, or saving the Marines on Okinawa. (Well, they discussed the Marines. Inconclusively.)

Under the belated Japanese C4C scheme, consumers get up to $2,800 if they trade in their 13 year or older car for new vehicle that meets the 2010 fuel economy standard of 35.5 mpg. So far, so good.

As countries in Europe wind down their cash for clunkers programs, China is increasing the bounty on old cars. China’s Ministry of Commerce said that qualified car owners who trade in outdated or “highly polluted” vehicles will receive a subsidy between US$733 and $2635 this year, up from last year’s maximum $878, reports Shanghai Daily.

Each year, the „Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache“ (association for the German language) selects its word of the year. This year, the German WOTY is, you guessed it …

To qualify for Japan’s cash-for-clunker program, new vehicles must meet the 2010 fuel economy standard of 35.5 mpg, making 87 percent of Japanese-made vehicles on sale in their home market eligible for the credit of up to $2,800. In fact, the Japanese program doesn’t even require a clunker (MY 1996 or older) to trade in, although without giving up an inefficient vehicle, the best credit available is a mere $1,132. But the American Automotive Policy Council calls these rules “unfair,” telling the Freep:

We urge the U.S. government to make clear that it cannot tolerate this outright discrimination, particularly at a time when it has provided substantial direct financial support for Japanese automakers in this market

Huh? Is the AAPC talking about America’s cash-for-clunker program, which (like Japan’s) sent Honda and Toyota sales soaring? Or the $1.6b DOE “ATVML” loans that Nissan got, which were dwarfed by the same program’s generosity towards Ford? Or perhaps the $82b+ TARP bailout that… oh wait, that all went to Detroit. Ok, let’s forget about America’s “substantial direct financial support for Japanese automakers” for a second and figure out just how unfair this Japanese program is.

In a follow up to E. Niedermeyer’s previous post, details have emerged about the scheme to give rebates to buyers who trade “clunkers” for new, fuel-efficient vehicles. FT.com (Financial Times) reports that the program will cost taxpayers about $4 billion and will spur, according Brian Johnson, an analyst at Barclays Capital, the sale of 3 million units in the “near term” (whatever that means). With the US’ SAAR projected at approximately 9 million, this is a very optimistic prediction.