NADA's reaction comes after the Department of Transportation announced a series of measures to step up the payment process. So far, DOT has paid or approved 565,690 applications for $2.38 billion.
"There's no question that this program was a boon to consumers, to automobile dealers and to the workers who build cars and trucks," NADA Chairman John McEleney said in a release. "The clunkers program also clearly accomplished its goal of jump-starting new car and truck sales and removed nearly 700,000 older vehicles from the roads," said the chairman, thanking Ray LaHood for the help he and his department gave dealers.
"Because of the extraordinary consumer response to the government's incentive, cash for clunkers has been called the most effective piece of the government's economic stimulus. Dealers across the country are reporting that they experienced one of the busiest summers in recent memory thanks to the boost in sales prompted by the clunkers program."
Of course, it was not all milk and honey for the dealers who participated in the program. Some of them were initially rejected and had to resubmit their claims. A total of $251.2 million worth of claims have been resubmitted.
“We're going to give the benefit of the doubt to every application,” LaHood said to the NADA's annual Washington conference. “We want to pay these people.”
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