Cash for Clunkers resulted in better auto sales than previously estimated

According to an analysis by Maritz Research, an automotive market research company, Cash for Clunkers was far more successful than previously estimated. Government records indicate a total of 677,000 vehicles moved under the program, and Maritz says that 542,000 of those sales were to consumers who would not have purchased but not for the program. They also say that an additional 223,000 individuals who were lured into showrooms as a result of the program and learned that they did not qualify, purchased anyway.

Maritz stands behind their analysis and says that it offers empirical evidence that CARS did not stifle future sales as had been widely claimed but instead, stimulated the sales of vehicles to those who would not have bought otherwise.

Edmunds.com, who had published a major study put the number of sales that would not have been made but for the program as low as 125,000. The difference between the two studies is that while Edmunds.com based their study on an analysis of sales figures, Maritz based theirs on a survey of 36,000 car buyers.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: CNNMoney