Senate Likely to Pass the $2 Billion

At least this is what Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood hopes to happen this week, as voices claiming the program might run out of cash by this weekend are getting more support from officials close to the matter. But LaHood says the $2 billion extra funding should pass the Senate this week and allow the program continue at least through Labor Day.

"This program is going forward. We have enough money to continue. We encourage people to continue going into showrooms. The money will be there to be reimbursed by the dealer. And I believe the Senate will pass $2 billion," LaHood said.

Dealers are still experiencing exhilarating times, as sales are incredibly high despite several months when they reached the lowest possible level. Tom Holzer Ford in Farmington Hills is one of the dealers that got its inventory going extremely low, all because consumers hurried to benefit from the $4,500 voucher, The Detroit News mentioned.

"People are literally racing in, and they're putting deposits on vehicles they see other customers looking at," said general sales manager Dennis Rekuc. "It's been wonderful. Vehicles are moving faster than we could have imagined."

Automakers are still jubilating and call for support from the Senate, demanding the approval of the bill. General Motors says production might be ramped up in the upcoming months as demand proves to be impressively high while inventories are running low.

"We are now at historically low inventory levels," spokesman John McDonald was quoted as saying. "We are starting to ramp production back up as demand builds into the system, not only because of 'cash for clunkers,' but as the economy starts to recover and demand starts to build."