Although it should have been a priority from the very beginning of the economic crisis, they were barely inching toward an agreement on a "cash for clunkers" bill to boost U.S. auto sales, The Detroit News reported.
The idea is quite simple and similar to what Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Spain and others in South America have done to help the ailing automakers. Basically, consumers get cash incentives to trade in their older cars for new models.
Apparently, US officials are so eager to adopt the new bill that they have two proposals on their order of business, one submitted by auto-state lawmakers hoping to boost domestic carmakers and the other by environment-minded members that would put more emphasis on replacing older cars with more fuel-efficient models, the aforementioned source wrote.
As a quick reminder of how appalling the US auto industry is these days, a recent report showed that new-vehicle retail sales during the first 16 selling days in April were down by approximately 33 percent and that the rest of the month will most surely go the same way. The same report also showed some stabilization signs, but mentioned that sales have not been so bad for 30 years.
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