Federal car trade program reborn

The House of Representatives has attached a Federal rebate program for buyers of new cars to a completely unrelated war spending bill in order to fast-track. This greatly increases the likelihood of passage of the program, which would provide $3,500 to $4,500 for people who trade in their old car for new ones that get somewhat better mileage. The program is likely to benefit mostly import manufacturers, according to some analysts, especially if it takes effect while General Motors is in bankruptcy (which is expected to last 30-60 days).

Ford has been positioning itself to take advantage of the program by heavily advertising the Fusion hybrid, whose economy is between the Camry hybrid and similarly-sized Prius. Chrysler, whose minivans top the fuel economy charts, has been less successful at changing its image with the general public.

Original plans for the Federal program would have given domestic automakers an edge, but protests from nations with heavy subsidies for their own domestic industries led to withdrawal of those provisions as unfair.

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