(Source: Tree Hugger)

Leader in the Pack 
Rep. Sutton’s Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act would give consumers incentives of $3,000 to $5,000 for turning in vehicles that are 8 years or older to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles or to obtain a transit voucher. She says that support is growing every day. The bill has gathered 21 co-sponsors so far, up from 19 a couple of weeks ago. The bill is still working out the metric of how cars would need to be traded in and what fuel efficiency would need to be for the new car. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has a similar proposal (with a short title of Accelerated Retirement of Inefficient Vehicles Act of 2009) that would mandate that the new car be 25% aboveCAFE standards . There has not been anything mentioned about how many cars one person or family can switch for the credit. Also, some states already have incentives for buying cleaner cars, so will individuals be able to get both state and federal credits? If so, in places like Texas , a person could get a combined total of as much as $8,500.00 for a new car.

Click here to read the entire article.  Here is the CNBC video of  the Cash for Clunkers featuring industry experts Dave McCurdy, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and John Wolkonowicz, IHS Global Insight.

 Note:  Below is a list of articles published on TransportGooru, offering insight into state of various “Cash for Clunkers” style programs implemented (or currently being debated) across the globe (Germany, UK, etc,).

Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act revives “Cash for Clunkers” scrapping plan in U.S

Germany plans to extend Abwrackprämie aka “Environmental Bonus”

The bickering starts over the implementation of the Cash for Clunkers legislation

Obama Favors “Cash for Clunkers”

Germany increases subsidy to 5 Billion Euros, tripling incentives for its “Cash for Clunker” (Abwrackprämie) program

Britain mulls implementation of “Cash for Clunkers” scheme to boost ailing auto sales

(Source: Spiegel Online via Business  Week)

To boost ailing carmakers, the British government is expected to offer customers a premium to exchange clunkers for new vehicles—as Germany has done

The paper writes that Darling and officials in the Treasury have been impressed by the results the programs have delivered in other countries. Last month, Britain experienced a 30 percent drop in new car registrations at a time when Germany recorded 40 percent more vehicle sales than during the same period a year earlier. In Germany, Treasury officials noted, the precipitous drop in auto sales has been reversed.

The Times reported that details are still being hashed out between the Economics Ministry and the Treasury in London, but that the plan will look a lot like Germany’s. According to the paper, a £2,000 (€2,200) scrapping premium is to be given on trade-ins of any car over nine years old.

In contrast to Germany, though, Darling and Economics Minister Peter Mandelson are also seeking industry participation in the program. At the very least, they want a binding commitment that existing rebates will not be dropped because of the government program. So far though, the paper reports, the British automobile industry is resisting the government’s push for it to support the program with its own means.

In addition to Germany, a number of European countries including Austria, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain also have stimulus programs in place for carmakers suffering from thecredit crunch and global financial crisis—and the success of these stimulus efforts has been measurable. China and Brazil have also succeeded in increasing car sales again.

“A scrapping scheme will provide the incentive needed and the evidence is clear that schemes already implemented across Europe do work to increase demand,” Britain’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) chief executive Paul Everitt told the Times. “The UK is the only major European market not to implement a scheme.” SMMT estimates the one-year program would cost about £160 million.

Last week, the United States also said it would adopt the successful European recipe. During a dramatic speech to the auto industry, US President Barack Obama praised the scrapping premiums as exemplary and “successful” and pledged to introduce a similar program in the US. But the program could be a lot more expensive for the United States than Britain: Already, an estimated 250 million cars and trucks are driven in America. Of those, close to 30 percent are at least 15 years old, meaning the country could have as many as 75 million candidates for scrapping.

In Germany, demand has been so strong that the government plans to extend its scrapping bonus through the end of the year. Last week, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet moved to extend the scheme until Dec. 31 and to provide €5 billion in government funding—enough to cover up to 2 million cars.

Click here to read more.   Transportgooru has already published a number of articles on this topic in earlier months.  Please feel free to explore them:

Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act revives “Cash for Clunkers” scrapping plan in U.S

Germany plans to extend Abwrackprämie aka “Environmental Bonus”

The bickering starts over the implementation of the Cash for Clunkers legislation

Obama Favors “Cash for Clunkers”

Germany increases subsidy to 5 Billion Euros, tripling incentives for its “Cash for Clunker” (Abwrackprämie) program

Image: Thingermejig@ Flickr

(Source: New York Times)

 BEIJING — Senior Chinese officials on Friday outlined how they aimed to turn their country into the world’s largest producer of electric cars, including a focus on consumer choice rather than corporate subsidies.

Speaking at a conference at the government’s prestigious Diaoyutai guesthouse here, the officials acknowledged that their efforts faced challenges in terms of the cost and safety of electric cars. They promised a nationwide effort by manufacturers, universities, research institutes and government agencies to overcome these obstacles.

(Source: CNN)

Their livelihood was being threatened, and they were tired of waiting for government help, so business owners and residents on Hawaii’s Kauai island pulled together and completed a $4 million repair job to a state park — for free.

Volunteers bring in a heavy crane for work on a bridge to Polihale State Park on Kauai last month.

Polihale State Park has been closed since severe flooding destroyed an access road to the park and damaged facilities in December.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources had estimated that the damage would cost $4 million to fix, money the agency doesn’t have, according to a news release from department Chairwoman Laura Thielen.

“It would not have been open this summer, and it probably wouldn’t be open next summer,” said Bruce Pleas, a local surfer who helped organize the volunteers. “They said it would probably take two years. And with the way they are cutting funds, we felt like they’d never get the money to fix it.”

And if the repairs weren’t made, some business owners faced the possibility of having to shut down.

Ivan Slack, co-owner of Napali Kayak, said his company relies solely on revenue from kayak tours and needs the state park to be open to operate. The company jumped in and donated resources because it knew that without the repairs, Napali Kayak would be in financial trouble.

“If the park is not open, it would be extreme for us, to say the least,” he said. “Bankruptcy would be imminent. How many years can you be expected to continue operating, owning 15-passenger vans, $2 million in insurance and a staff? For us, it was crucial, and our survival was dependent on it. That park is the key to the sheer survival of the business.”

So Slack, other business owners and residents made the decision not to sit on their hands and wait for state money that many expected would never come. Instead, they pulled together machinery and manpower and hit the ground running March 23.  Watch the volunteers repairing the road »

And after only eight days, all of the repairs were done, Pleas said. It was a shockingly quick fix to a problem that may have taken much longer if they waited for state money to funnel in.

“We can wait around for the state or federal government to make this move, or we can go out and do our part,” Slack said. “Just like everyone’s sitting around waiting for a stimulus check, we were waiting for this but decided we couldn’t wait anymore.”

Thielen has been waiting, too. She wants the legislature to approve her Recreation Renaissance project, a $240 million booster shot to help fix parks across the state. Without it, at least five state parks may be forced to close, and there would be no emergency repair money to fix Polihale State Park.

“We shouldn’t have to do this, but when it gets to a state level, it just gets so bureaucratic, something that took us eight days would have taken them years,” said Troy Martin of Martin Steel, who donated machinery and steel for the repairs. “So we got together — the community — and we got it done.” 

Click here to read the entire story and to view awesome pictures from this wonderful community initiative.

(Source: Jalopnik,  Freep & World Car Fans)

Looks like American automakers have found at least one more buyer for their vehicles. The U.S. government is planning on the purchase of $285 million worth of fleet vehicles that get better gas mileage than the current fleet. Under the plan, the General Services Administration will purchase more than 17,500 vehicles as a part of their existing deals with Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors.

U.S. President Barack Obama, and his administration, have said the purchases will take place by 1 June. Although it is unclear what will happen to the older fleet vehicles being replaced, many will likely be sold at government auctions.

The purchase is hardly a surprise. In the much talked about stimulus package approved by Congress, $300 million was included for the automotive purchase. This is not a gigantic purchase in the grand scheme of things, as the Big Three sold a combined total of 380,000 vehicles for March 2009. Still, the move may help to bolster confidence in the sector, while even a marginal increase in revenue would be welcomed by the automakers.

More than 14% of the vehicles will be hybrid sedans. 2,500 orders for the vehicles, which will likely include the Chevy Malibu, Ford Hybrid Fusion, and Saturn Aura, will be placed by the end of next week.

Image: Jalopnik

If nothing else, the move underscores the administration’s willingness to put its money where its mouth is: Last week, Obama sent GM and Chrysler back to the drawing board, saying they needed more aggressive restructuring plans if they were to get more government loans to survive. 

But he also promised this big government buy of fuel-efficient vehicles and created a special office to help communities in Michigan and elsewhere struggling with the downturn in the industry. In a prepared statement released today along with details of the planned purchases, Obama said, “The problems that caused this economic crisis weren’t created in a day and it will take time and hard work to get our economy back on track. But I am 100% committed to a strong American auto industry, and we will stand with America’s auto workers and their families during these difficult times.”

(Source: Washington Post)

 WASHINGTON — Lying on her chest in a small crawl space, Staff Sgt. Dana Fernkas watches the gray Air Force jet emerge from the clouds and ease up just behind the rear window in the belly of her plane.

 (Source: Financial Times)

(Source: Infrastructurist)

Image: Infrastructurist

Everywhere you look, from Argentina to Saudi Arabia, there’s a country planning a new high-speed rail line.  Contributor Yonah Freemark offered this incredible, easy to understand graphical depiction on Infrastructurist, which compares seven lines on four continents that are either in the engineering phase or already under construction. They range in size from the diminutive 34-mile project that will connect Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to the gargantuan 818-mile link between Beijing and Shanghai. The variations in construction cost per mile and local meaning of the term “high speed” are almost as great.

(Source: Telegraph, UK) Germany is more than tripling the incentives on offer to buyers of new cars as it attempts to boost its auto industry, which employs around 15pc of the nation’s workforce.

The scheme offers German consumers €2,500 for trading in vehicles more than nine years old if they buy a car that is less than one year old.

Click here to read the entire article.  

TransportGooru has compiled several articles in the past reporting on similar efforts in UK (which is now contemplating introduction of  a similar program after watching the Germans successfully implement the program) & USA.  Here are the links to some of the earlier articles:

Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act revives “Cash for Clunkers” scrapping plan in U.S

Germany plans to extend Abwrackprämie aka “Environmental Bonus”

The bickering starts over the implementation of the Cash for Clunkers legislation

Obama Favors “Cash for Clunkers”

(Source: Wall Street Journal)