White House Disputes Edmunds' Cash for Clunkers Analysis

I just checked out Drudge Report; the CNN Money story is the headline.
You guys are toast.
;)

How dare you attempt to burden our nation's leaders with cumbersome facts and figures! Can't you see they have an agenda to advance and can't be bothered by such things rational thought, common sense, or even the slightest contradiction??

Seems like both sides have an agenda. The White House wants their program to look successful, and Edmunds has been a long-time critic of C4C. Nothing to see here, people.

Don't piss off The Rock Obama.

I thought cash for clunkers was stupid to begin with. I am critical and distrustful of the current government. Guess who I'm siding with?

Are there cars on Mars?

"I am critical and distrustful of the current government. Guess who I'm siding with?"

More blasphemy. The Chosen One will not be pleased. Don't be surprised if your tax returns are audited for the next few years.

It's not surprising at all that the administration would react this way. They don't like truth when it contradicts their propaganda.

Yet another infidel who doesn't believe in Hope and Change...

President Obama might become the 2009 World Series MVP.

I'll stay out of this one. I don't want people in black suits showing up at my door. U guys at Edmonds should be careful. That guy behind obama looks pretty pissed.

These are the facts: This administration has control of our financial bloodline; Wall Street and banks. Now they dictate; notice the word: DICTATE, the salaries of executives. They own GM…you all know that, correct? They OWN General Motors. And here is an example of their total stupidity and inability to effectively and even slightly try to save GM (which they have no intention of relinquishing ownership of) Remember “Cash for Clunkers”? Sounded great, didn’t: trade in your “clunker” and receive a rebate or discount of $3,500.00-$4,500.00 towards a new vehicle. Of course, the government decided which cars qualified as clunkers and which cars were elected as fuel efficient or Earth Friendly or whatever by the criteria of their choosing for trade-ins. Who benefitted from this? This really could have been a good idea; profitable for many people if it was run by the private sector. Many consumers made out; thousands now drive nice, new vehicles with great warranties, etc. Ford did well, they had some great inventory to provide; as did Honda, Toyota, Lexus, Volkswagen, Hyundai, BMW, Nissan, Saab, etc. You know who suffered terribly from this fiasco? GM! Why? Their factories had been shut down for nine months! They had little inventory to begin with, which when those cars did sell, they had no time to produce more!!! Most GM lots are now stuck with $35,000-$50,000 SUVs and Crossovers and Pickup Trucks. Now, these “clunkers” were, per the contract of the Cash for Clunkers campaign, to be destroyed. Period. The government dictated that these “clunkers” were to be taken to a junk yard and crushed and boxed into waste. Many of those cars were very drivable, newer, safe cars that had many more years and miles on them. They could have been resold to low income families, or donated to charities, churches, etc. Even the spare parts that could have been resold to keep other, older cars on the road (starters, alternators, doors, mirrors, fuel pumps, wheels, seats, windows, glass, transmissions, oil pans, batteries, etc., etc., etc) I understand the purpose of the program was to remove non fuel efficient vehicles off the roads, but not everybody can afford new cars and some keep their vehicles for many years and rely on spare parts from junk yards. This program had no benefit to GM and millions of dollars from the donation/resale of these clunkers and the spare part business was lost. In other words, the government ruined what could have been a great boost to GM and in the process lost millions of potential revenue from the used/spare parts industry. Now he, Obama and this administration, wants to control healthcare?

Edmunds vs Obama.

Edmunds wins.

Wow, more Chicago thug-style politics from the white house. They have now been reduced to knee-capping internet car mags that dispute their propaganda. Its like we're living in a third world dictatorship where none are allowed to dissent....

You folks are so easily fooled. Do you really think edmunds/IL staffers are Republicans based on their editorializing in the blogs? Get a clue folks. This is the same site that ridicules Lutz about his infamous global warming comments and extols the virtues of green cars.

omg, is the white house going to send a govt' appointed editor to watch over edmunds now??? LOL.

alman08:

Yes, I'm expecting The Chosen One to appoint a "Blog Czar" before the end of the week.

lol@Blog Czar

The Cash for Clunkers program was a great idea on paper, but it was poorly implemented and the Government's tactics to change the EPA's MPG estimates on all cars (to raise and disqualify cars) the night before the program took effect is downright absurd.

A month prior to the program's launch, my car (95 Ford Contour V6) qualified for the program and I was pretty set on buying a new car (Ford Fusion) until the changed the EPA's MPG estimates that ultimately disqualified my car.

On top of that, dealerships were given authorization from the Government to conduct pre-sales for qualified cars in the weeks before the official launch...only to realize some of the cars that were traded in no longer qualified.

Sure, the Cash for Clunkers program was designed to boost the economy & automotive market...but did it really have a significant impact? I don't think so. In some cases it did more harm than good.

Right on, Edmunds!

Let’s see; my stocks are down; two of my part time jobs are gone; my Medicare is in jeopardy; my taxes are going up; with the government printing money like it is, what I have is not going to be worth anything real soon; looks like my kids and grandkids are going to really pay for it; there are less goods in stock at the store; I am afraid cap and trade is going to drive fuel prices out of site; most of the news media does not understand….

Thank you, Edmunds, for getting it right. I am definitely going to checkout your website and look at your advertisers.

Yahoo! main page said something like "White House wages war against..."[Edmunds.com]

Of course it's not on there anymore...must be that manipulation of the media that the Obama Administration that Anita Dunn was talking about.

As Edmunds.com admitted, when looking at values as they did, it turns out that it's typically in the tens of thousands of dollars so $24,000 as an incremental cost was although nothing to sneeze at, not all that surprising. Cash for Clunkers had flaws from the get-go. But then again, Edmunds.com's survey was for Mars.

Careful, Edmunds- don't question the WH too much....they'll ban you like they did FoxNews!

The C4C deal is full of flaws, and I agree with Edmunds' point of view on the subject.

The Edmunds.com investigation was made by people in Santa Monica, a Republican stronghold if ever there was one.

"Yes, I'm expecting The Chosen One to appoint a "Blog Czar" before the end of the week."

Have you ever considered comedy? It truly seems to be a gift of yours.

Edmunds nor the government can prove exactly how many people purchased cars after they found out they didn't qualify. In addition, they cannot prove how many of these people wouldn't have purchased a car if automakers hadnt stepped up advertising and C4C related incentives to boost sales. IN addtion, Edmunds claims that automaker didn't boost production in response to C4C is borderline insane when you consider the AUTOMAKERS have said as much. It always amazes me when a 3rd party feels they know more about a company's operations than the company. Notice edmunds omitted the fact that there have been public statements about C4C depleted inventories and stimulating production.