As expected, auto industry sales were way down for the month of September, after record highs posted during the previous month with the Cash for Clunkers program in effect.

Compared to September of 2008, GM’s sales declined 45 percent, while Chrysler dropped 42 percent. Ford’s posted just a modest 5 percent loss due in part to steady gains in the truck segment, with F-150 pickups (pictured above) selling at an increased pace.

As for the high-volume foreign automakers, Honda dropped 20 percent, Toyota was down 13 percent and Nissan slumped by 7 percent. And with some automakers losing ground, others were sure to grab market share with Hyundai/Kia up 26 percent (its third straight monthly gain), while Porsche rose 8 percent, BMW was up 4 percent and Subaru posted a 1 percent increase.

The loses for September are actually worse than they sound, as the month they are being compared to, September of 2008, was a brutal month for auto industry sales, after the collapse of Lehman Brothers started the recession watch.

Overall, the industry wide decline is listed at 23 percent for September, slightly better than the average 28 percent drop for the previous eight months.

Industry analysts expect these slumping sales to continue through the rest of 2009.

For a full breakdown of each automaker’s sales in September, see after the jump:

[Source: Automotive News]

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When the U.S. government first released its list of the most popular Cash for Clunkers vehicles traded in as well as those purchased there seemed to be no surprises. It looked like consumers were getting rid of their Ford Explorers for Priuses. But after taking a longer look at the data, it seems that might not have been the case after all, as two trucks, the Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado, were actually among the top ten vehicles purchased under the Clunkers program.

The reason for the change is that the initial listing classified vehicles specific to their drivetrain, meaning that a rear-drive or four-wheel drive pickup would count as two separate trucks. But by looking at just the vehicle model, the Silverado takes now takes the 8th spot, while Ford’s F-150 sits in 10th. Another winner was the Honda CR-V, which moved from outside the top 10 to sixth place.

As a result, three vehicles that are no longer in the top 10 are the Honda Accord, the tiny Honda Fit and (gasp!) the Toyota Prius.

These new numbers suggest that the Obama Administration’s plan to promote the sale of fuel-efficient vehicles might not have worked as effectively as planned, with the average fuel-economy of the new vehicles rated at 19 mpg, as compared to an average of 35 mpg for the three vehicles dropped from the list. No one can argue that the CARS legislation did, however, give a significant boost to the auto industry – if only temporarily.

[Source: LeftLaneNews]

The U.S. auto industry showed continued improvement in the month of August, helped on by the Obama Administration’s Cash for Clunkers program.

Ford was once again a big winner as sales increased 17.2 percent over last August, a significant improvement over the 2.4 percent growth in July – which was thought to be good at the time.

Honda posted a 9.9 percent increase while Toyota pulled itself from the gutters with a 6.4 percent gain.

Unfortunately for GM and Chrysler, the turnaround seems to have left them behind, with GM slipping 20.1 percent and Chrysler dropping 15.4 percent. Both of those numbers are worse than in July, with GM dropping 19.4 percent and Chrysler dropping 9.4 percent then.

Two smaller players in the U.S. market that are now poised to become larger players are Hyundai and Subaru. Hyundai saw an increase of 47 percent, while Subaru posted 51.5 percent growth. Volkswagen also posted growth of 11.4 percent.

Current estimates now put the total number of vehicle sales for 2009 at the 14.4 million mark, a significant increase from the sub-10 million units forecasted during the height of the recession.

[Source: Automotive News]

See the full U.S. Auto Industry August Sales Results after the jump:

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With the Cash-for-Clunkers program officially ending last night, the U.S. Department of Transportation has now released its top 10 list of the most purchased vehicles under the program, with the most popular car purchased being the Toyota Corolla.

Toyotas actually took three of the top 10 spots, with the Camry placing third and the new Prius ranking seventh. Honda did equally well, taking three of the top 10 spots, with the Civic coming in second, the Accord 8th and the Fit 9th.

Nissan and Hyundai each had one spot on the list with the Versa in 6th and the Elantra in 5th. Ford was the only U.S. automaker to break into the top 10, with the front-wheel drive Focus in 4th and the FWD Escape in 10th.

The “Top 10″ list doesn’t tell the whole story, however. While no General Motors products are listed in the top 10, collectively, GM products accounted for 17.6% of the total of new cars purchased under the program, second only to Toyota with 19.4%.

In total, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) generated 690,114 transactions worth a total of $2.8 billion.

“American consumers and workers were the clear winners thanks to the cash for clunkers program,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Manufacturing plants have added shifts and recalled workers. Moribund showrooms were brought back to life and consumers bought fuel efficient cars that will save them money and improve the environment. This is one of the best economic news stories we’ve seen and I’m proud we were able to give consumers a helping hand.”

In total, 84 percent of consumers traded in trucks, while 59 percent purchased cars. The average fuel economy of a car traded in was 15.8 mpg, whereas the average fuel economy of a car purchased was 24.9 mpg – an improvement of 9.2 mpg or 58 percent.

[Source: Department of Transportation]

The four-wheel-drive Ford Explorer topped the list of clunkers traded in under the Car Allowance Rebate System.

Ford vehicles appeared five times on the Cash for Clunkers top ten trade-in vehicles list released by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The four-wheel-drive Explorer was number one with the two-wheel-drive version at number four.

The Ford F150 also appeared twice on the list, with the 2WD pickup at number two and the 4WD F-150 at number nine.

Chrysler vehicles appeared on the list three times, thanks to the Jeep Grand Cherokee (#3), Jeep Cherokee (#6) and the Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan (#5).

A pair of Chevys filled out the top ten with the Blazer at seven followed by the 1500 pickup at eight.

According to the DOT, 84% of trade-ins were trucks. The clunkers traded in under the program had an average fuel economy of 15.8 mpg compared to the 24.9 mpg average for new vehicles purchased.

[Source: DOT]

The Cash for Clunkers program has come to an end and its impact can now be evaluated.

According to U.S. Department of Transportation, dealers submitted 690,114 transactions under the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), more commonly known as Cash-for-Clunkers. Those rebate applications account for $2.877 billion out of the $3 billion approved by Congress.

That number may rise considerably, however, as rejected filings are resubmitted. The DOT has said that filings approved after last nights deadline will be reimbursed. The DOT reported several issues with its servers approaching the deadline, which may account the fact that only $229 million in claims were filed during the last 36 hours of the program, while over the previous weekend $611 million in claims were filed.

A preliminary analysis by the White House Council of Economic Advisers says the CARS program boosted economic growth in the third quarter of 2009 by 0.3-0.4 percent, will help sustain an increased fourth quarter GDP and create or save 42,000 jobs in the second half of 2009.

“American consumers and workers were the clear winners thanks to the cash for clunkers program,” says U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Manufacturing plants have added shifts and recalled workers. Moribund showrooms were brought back to life and consumers bought fuel efficient cars that will save them money and improve the environment.”

Ford and General Motors recently announced production increases for the second half of the year due to the demand generated by the CARS program. Honda also said it will increase production at its plants in East Liberty and Marysville, Ohio, and in Lincoln, Ala.

“This is one of the best economic news stories we’ve seen and I’m proud we were able to give consumers a helping hand,” said LaHood.

[Source: DOT and Automotive News]

Car owners hoping to take advantage of the “cash for clunkers” incentive program will have to do it by this Monday (Aug. 21) at 8 p.m., as the Obama Administration shuts down the popular program.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), offering incentives for trade-ins, should have enough funding to support one more weekend of sales. Earlier this month, the U.S. government pumped $2 billion into the program on top of the original $1 billion in funding. At the time, LaHood estimated the total $3 billion in funding would last until Labor Day. Looks like LaHood was off by a couple of weeks.

LaHood said there are no plans to expand the program again, but some representatives, including Democrat Sander Levin or Royal Oak, Mich.,  say Congress should add another $1 billion into the program.

[Source: The Detroit News]

The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) has asked the U.S. government to suspend the Cash-for-Clunkers program immediately as it believes the $3 billion in earmarked funds have already been used up.

NADA Chairman John McEleney told Automotive News that based on a survey of its dealers it believes the $3 billion in funding could be used up as of today. But according to the Transportation Department, only 411,624 claims have been filed, accounting for a total of $1,72 billion. The difference says McEleny is due to rejected claims that have yet to be re-submittted.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, has said that the $3 billion should last until Labor day, but NADA’s track record is also pretty good, as the group was the one to raise the alarm that the initial $1 billion in funding, intended to run for several months had dried up in just two weeks.

Earlier in the week LaHood said that the Transportation Department is readying a plan to wind-down the Cash-for-Clunkers program, commenting that even if the fund dries up, the dealers will still be reimbursed.

[Source: Automotive News]

A week after reports that the original $1 billion allocated for the Cash-for-Clunkers program was running low, President Obama today signed into law an additional $2 billion that will keep the program running and fuel a rebounding auto industry.

In just two weeks since the original bill was passed the Cash-for-Clunkers or CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System) has netted $920 million in rebates and has accounted for more than 220,000 new car sales.

The boost to the auto industry has prompted speculation that total car sales for the year, which only a few months ago were pegged at under 10 million, will now exceed the 13 million unit mark.

Automakers are also looking to boost production output as inventory levels have dropped to their lowest levels since 1992. Measured in the number of days worth of inventory a dealer has on its lot, Chrysler dropped its inventory from 71 to 40 days, Ford shed 9 days (from 57 to 48) while both GM and Toyota lost 18 days, from 82 to 64 and 47 to 29 respectively.

[Source: Automotive News 1 and 2]

Audi will offer an additional $1,000 off any vehicle that also meets the requirements for a Cash-for-Clunkers rebate. This means customers could save up to $5,500 off the price of a new Audi.

Eligible vehicles for the CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System) rebate include hatchbacks, sedans, convertibles, crossovers and even sports cars. Notable models include the Audi A3, the new 2009 Audi A4, the TT (both Coupe and Roadster) and the new Q5 crossover.

“The CARS reimbursement enacted by Congress is a tremendous opportunity for consumers interested in upgrading to vehicles that offer better fuel efficiency and reduced emissions,” said Mark Del Rosso, Chief Operating Officer at Audi of America. “Now that some uncertainties surrounding the launch of this federal program have been cleared up the time is right to enhance the deal even further.”

Audi is awaiting official EPA ratings on the fuel-efficiency of its 2010 models to see if they will also be eligible for both the Audi and Cash-for-Clunkers discounts.

See the full list of eligible models after the jump:

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