Local ‘clunkers’ effect remains unclear

By Alex Gary

BusinessRockford.com

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ROCKFORD — The number of cars registered in the Rock River Valley after being purchased in August fell for the second straight month, a curious result considering the excitement generated by the federal government’s “cash for clunkers” rebate program.

According to an Illinois secretary of state spokesman, the effect of the sales bounce won’t be known until September figures are available.

“We give the person/car dealer that sold the vehicle 21 days to get the paperwork to us, but we have noticed that some dealers are holding onto the paperwork a little longer, waiting until they get the (federal government) to approve the deal, which as you know has been slow because of the volume,” Roger Benshoof said. “We noticed across the state a move up in June and July, and we think that there will be move-up in September.”

Registrations of new-car sales, however, had their second-best month of the year in August, although the total was down nearly 4 percent from August 2008. Predictably, the August decline came from used-car sales, which fell to their lowest levels since December.

The federal rebate program pushed possible used-car buyers to new-car lots because of the heavy rebates, and used-car sales slowed because all trade-ins in the program had to be destroyed.

Tracking car registrations is a good but imperfect way to judge auto sales. The registrations are recorded in the county the car was registered, not purchased. So if a Winnebago County resident buys a car in Oregon but registers it in Rockford, it counts as a Winnebago County sale.

Reach Assistant Business Editor Alex Gary at 815-987-1339 or agary@rrstar.com.

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MORE ON "CASH FOR CLUNKERS"
Aug. 24: Dealers ready to be restocked, repaid after 'clunkers'
Aug. 13: 'Clunkers' yields some not-so-green vehicles
Aug. 7: So what will they do with all those clunkers?
Aug. 6: 'Clunkers' goals puzzle local used-car dealers
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