There's little disputing that Cash for Clunkers helped stimulate the auto industry, but did all the trade-ins put drivers into fuel-efficient vehicles? Not necessarily. The Associated Press claims a sizable number of trade-ins put customers back into full-size trucks.
According to the AP, who sources data obtained from the government through a Freedom of Information Act request, nearly 8200 Cash for Clunkers swaps involved owners of Ford F-150s trading their "clunker" for a brand-new F-150. Although such swaps were technically allowed underneath the provisions of the Cars Allowance Rebate System, the new F-150s reportedly only improved fuel economy by 1-3 mpg on average, mitigating any possible environmental benefit.
The AP also claims the Chevrolet Silverado -- another full-size pickup -- was amongst the top 10 vehicles purchased with CARS rebates, and that roughly 14 percent of the vehicles bought through the program achieve lower than 20 mpg.
Interestingly, the figures obtained by the AP supposedly indicate that $562,500 of the program's rebates went towards vehicles that obtained worse fuel economy than the traded-in vehicle. NHTSA is reportedly investigating these cases, which may be as innocent as a typo included with paperwork.
The data also revealed that "clunkers" averaged 15.8 mpg, while the vehicles bought through the program eked out an average of 24.9 mpg. The increased fuel economy reduces annual carbon dioxide emissions by 1.87 million tons -- approximately the same amount of CO2 produced in the U.S. every 2.5 hours.
Source: AP