A recently completed federal government program has left higher-than-normal customer traffic, back lots full of heavily used cars and patient dealership owners at several Golden Triangle car lots, according to area car dealers.
The U.S. government”s cash for clunkers program, aimed at helping Americans purchase new, more fuel-efficient vehicles, came to an end Aug. 24. And although the program has ended, area dealership owners said they still are feeling its benefits.
“What it did was create a lot of interest that otherwise wouldn”t have been there,” said Ben Thomas, operations manager at Mitchell Automotive on Highway 45 Alternate in West Point. “Even if people weren”t eligible for the program, we would tell them what kinds of deals we could get them. We sold a lot of vehicles that way.”
Through the program, customers could trade in their less than 25-year-old vehicles for a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle. After trading in the old vehicle, customers could get up to $4,500 in rebates in addition to the scrap value of their old vehicle.
After providing the rebates and accepting the “clunkers” as trade-ins, dealership owners were instructed to disable the used vehicles and hold them on their lots until reimbursed by the government.
Program guidelines then required dealerships to send the trade-ins to scrap yards to be crushed and shredded. However, many local dealers said they have yet to deliver any vehicles to the automotive graveyard.
“Everyone will be waiting for their money for the government for a while,” said Stan Gunnels, sales manager at Premier Ford on Highway 45 North in Columbus, noting his dealership accepted about 45 trade-ins through the program.
“I guess about the only negative thing is that we haven”t been paid yet,” Thomas said. “But I think it”s been an excellent program. Definitely the best thing this presidential administration has done so far.”
Thomas was not alone in his praise of the government vehicle incentive program, as other Golden Triangle dealership owners also agreed the program brought them much increased customer traffic and sales.
“It went quite well for us, and it has spurred a lot of business we may not have seen otherwise,” said Chris Vickery, general manager of Starkville Ford on Highway 182 East. “It motivated a lot of people to get out and purchase a new car who may not have considered it before.”
“It went really well for us, and it helped our sales a lot,” Gunnels said. “It was definitely a booster shot for the whole auto industry.”
Though area dealership owners attributed most of their recent sales spikes to the cash for clunkers program, none said they expected sales to sharply decline after the program”s end.
“I think the program released a lot of pent-up buying interest for a lot of people,” Vickery said. “Even people whose vehicles didn”t qualify for the program for whatever reason still did business with us. I think that will continue, because the program has gotten customer interest levels high.”
“You would hope that the increased sales would continue for a long time, but I guess you just never know,” Gunnels said. “But if I was a good market indicator, I would be a millionaire by now.”
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