Goodbye, Cash For Clunkers?

The huge success of the 5-days old Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS)is proving to be a real problem, as reports started coming in saying the $1 billion allocated for CARS have almost been spent.

According to the CARS official website, yesterday morning there were $779 million of that money left. Yet, fears that there is no money left, which began spreading among dealers yesterday, was confirmed late last night.

"We hope there's a will and a way to keep the program going a bit longer," General Motors said in a statement, quoted by Reuters. "Any doubt that the program would jump-start auto sales is completely erased."

Since Monday, 22,782 trades were certified by federal officials, Freep reports, yet the lack of coordination made those involved lose count of the deals made by the roughly 16,000 dealers taking part in the program. According to some reports, as much as 250,000 rebate requests have been submitted, swamping the CARS program.

So far, none of the government officials commented on the news, despite the fact that yesterday congressional and industry representatives warned a dead-end is in sight. So far, the program is still running, as the Obama administration keeps on trying to find new funding for the program. Senators Dianne Feinstein of California and Susan Collins of Maine told Reuters that any extension of the CARS program will have to comply with new terms, calling for greater fuel-efficiency and higher emission reduction.

An official statement, which will determine whether CARS will continue or not, is expected sometimes today.