Clean Green Cars: Cash for Clunkers update: 25-year limit keeps clunkers on the road, Ford boosts Focus production

Cash for Clunkers update: 25-year limit keeps clunkers on the road, Ford boosts Focus production

Filed under: MPG, Legislation and Policy, Green Daily

We heard a while back that charities that rely on donated cars to fund their projects were some of the groups that helped implement the 18 mpg upper limit for passenger vehicles that qualify for C.A.R.S. (Cash for Clunkers). Turns out that the 25-year-old limit was also influenced by self-interested groups. Antique auto parts suppliers and car collectors - through their lobbyists - convinced Congress that exempting vehicles more than two-and-a-half decades old was the right move because scrapping the old cars would destroy the market for aftermarket parts for classic cars. But is every car from 1980 a classic? No, so there are a lot of real clunkers out there that can’t be recycled using C.A.R.S. the way its regulated now.

Still, the clunkers program is a success. The word on the street is that Ford has increased production of the Focus (pictured) at the Wayne Assembly Plant to meet increased demand for the car. So that’s something.

Gallery: 2008 Ford Focus