Family Life

08.12.09 | FL News Team

Last week's red hot auto sales under the government's "Cash For Clunkers'' program are cooling off. One industry analysis released Tuesday predicted a steady decline in clunker-related sales, despite the addition of two-billion-dollars to the program by Congress and the Obama administration. Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs says interest is dying down as dealer inventories tighten. Auto dealers are also seeing a slowdown in showroom traffic from the frantic pace of a week ago. According to government and industry figures, sales during the peak period topped 250-thousand and rebates exceeded one-billion-dollars.

Under the Clunkers program, customers can receive rebates of up to 45-hundred-dollars by trading-in older cars for more fuel efficient new ones. Dealers say buyers are trading in mostly sport utilities, pickups and other American-made vehicles for fuel sipping foreign-made passenger cars. Automakers credited clunker trade-ins for boosting July sales in a year in which they've had to contend with a devastating drop in business.