Top Selling Cash for Clunkers Cars List

Data has been released which indicates that US car manufacturer, General Motors has sold the most cars under the Cash for Clunkers 2009 stimulus program so far. Transportation data released on Tuesday shows that GM has sold 18.7 percent of the new cars. Coming in second is Toyota Motor Corporation with 17.9 percent of the sales, and Ford is third with 16 percent of sales. The program officially started on July 24, 2009 and allowed consumers to trade in their gas-guzzling clunkers for more fuel-efficient cars. The clunkers stimulus voucher of $4,500 provided the incentive for people to make the trade-ins for the purchase or lease of a new vehicle.

The Ford Focus had been the top selling vehicle under the program but was recently surpassed by Toyota Corolla. According to a list from the Department of Transportation, the following individual makes and models of cars have been the biggest sellers for the Clunkers program so far:

1) Toyota Corolla
2) Ford Focus
3) Honda Civic
4) Toyota Prius
5) Toyota Camry

Data has suggested that Ford, GM and Chrysler have accounted for 47 percent of the new car sales under the program, although the list above illustrates the popularity of foreign cars with 4 of the 5 listed coming from Toyota and Honda.

The Cash for Clunkers or C.A.R.S. (Car Allowance Rebate System) program has been considered a huge success so far as the government approved an additional $2 billion to be pumped into the program since its inception. Originally, just $1 billion was alloted for the program, but within its first week sales were on fire. It was reported that over 180, 000 trade-ins were done within that first week, eating up most of the funding. Most of the trade-ins have been trucks with the Ford Explorer and F150 leading the way.

It's being questioned now just how much more money the government may put into the program, or if it will officially end after this $2 billion. The Clunkers program is set to run through Labor Day 2009.

More info: Cash for Clunkers Rules for Trade-Ins

Cash for Clunkers stimulus bill program

(Additional story info: WashingtonPost.com)