N.C. consumers get $78M for clunkers
North Carolina consumers applied for $78.6 million in government rebates during the "Cash for Clunkers" program that ended Monday, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Posted — UpdatedThe $3 billion program provided rebates of up to $4,500 to people who traded gas-guzzling vehicles for new, fuel-efficient models. The program was so popular that the government shut it down after about a month because it had almost exhausted its budget.
Nationwide, 690,114 vehicles were traded in for about $2.9 billion.
North Carolina ranked 10th in the U.S. in the value of the rebates – the DOT didn't release a state-by-state breakdown in the number of trade-ins – following California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Trucks and SUVs accounted for 84 percent of the vehicles traded in nationwide, led by the Ford Explorer, Ford F150 and Jeep Cherokee. Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and Toyota Camry topped the list of vehicles purchased under the program.
The program boosted fuel efficiency by an average of 9.2 miles per gallon for consumers who traded in their old vehicles.
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