Today marks the day that the long discussed Cash for Guzzlers program finally goes into effect at many dealerships across the nation. Now I’ve been discussing this incentive for months now, but I find it a little interesting that the details of this plan have not been expounded upon until this last Friday. What you’re about to read may (or quite honestly, may not) shock you.

This Cash for Guzzlers plan may be a good idea; I’m not here to pass judgment on the issue. Honestly I personally like this administration, but I don’t feel that this program is one of their best. It doesn’t surprise me to find a government incentive with an accompanying mile long list of regulations. I just don’t understand why any dealers would want to put themselves through this (maybe I’m misinformed, but the regulations make it sound like the dealers will actually LOSE money over this program). In the end, this is the program that’s being offered to them so we will all see how it goes. The following a vague description of the list of things the dealers must do to use this program.

First and foremost, the dealer must be on a list given to the government from the automaker in order to even be eligible. This list will be updated weekly, so if people are not initially on it they have a shot of making it. Say you’ve met this qualification, you are on your way to having this government incentive, but first you must sign up with the government for EACH brand that you sell (this must be done separately, believe me this becomes a headache in a minute). After this, the dealer has made it through the initial stage and their name should appear on the cars.gov website (within, oh I don’t know, say, 4 days).

Now remember we are talking about a government program here so there will be plenty of regulations for the dealer to learn before they implement this program. They can find out what these regulations entail by reading the aforementioned 136-page document spelling these out.

Once they have done all of this, they have to go through about 15 more walls of red tape between themselves and the disposal unit (a government approved scrapping unit, which they can find on the handy cars.gov website as well), wait a little bit longer, and finally get the wrecker’s approval (that they even accept the vehicle). So now they can send it off and put this nightmare behind them, right? Not by a long shot.

After getting the approval of the wrecking company they then must send the necessary paperwork to the Department of Transportation at disposal@cars.gov within 7 days of approval of the scrapping company. After all of this turmoil the dealer must be thinking when am I going to get paid for the money I just put up for all of this? In order to get reimbursed (remember this doesn’t mean that dealers are making any money directly off of this program, it’s supposed to be merely an incentive for people to buy cars) the dealer must then submit each reimbursement application in the form of e-copies. Included in this must be an e-copy of either the purchase contract or lease agreement made at the dealership. If they did EVERYTHING absolutely right, they will be sent an electronic reimbursement from the government.

Hello and thank you for visiting on this wonderful July, 9 2009. First big news of the day: GM is set to exit bankruptcy court. Apparently (and frankly, as expected) the company is now largely owned by the U.S. government. As this is a developing topic, I will have much better details next week so please check back. This is bound to get/remain ugly.

In other news, the Wall Street Journal recently released a report speculating the passage of a new Department of Transportation bill in congress. This was as of July 2^nd. This transportation bill, which was being introduced by House Democrats, is reportedly just in its beginning stages so there is bound to be plenty of development in this story. This bill would cost 450 billion dollar over the next 6 years (yes, yes, I know) if passed. What would this bill do you ask?

Included in the bill would be several initiatives to reduce oil consumption in the U.S.  This is reportedly in an effort to stimulate economic growth (and not for the purpose of conservation, that is way down the list of important things in this country at the moment it would appear).  Additionally, this bill would consolidate the number of Transportation Department programs used to disperse federal tax money to state programs (to under 6). This would be a positive thing as it would allow local agencies to give more specific attention to where the money is going exactly (which could wind up saving us tax money in the end). For some this is just another example of our big spending habits, which they believe will get us further and further into this mess we’ve created. To an extent, I agree.

That’s all for this week. Next week is sure to bring some excitement.

Well hey there. As we enter the last week of June/ first week of July more changes to the auto industry are coming down the wire. As of yesterday, 6 of the biggest automakers have announced plans to cease production of all diesel-running vehicles in the US by 2010. What does this mean for the future of diesel; anybody’s guess at this point. This may be a hot button issue in regards to saving money on gas because diesel engines can get up to 30% higher gas mileage than a standard fuel vehicle. The issue that the auto companies are facing is the price of Diesel engines. On average many components of a diesel engine can drive the retail price of the vehicle up as much as $8,000, something auto companies aren’t willing to place any bets on (and who can blame them in this market). So far GM, Ford, and Chrysler as well as Japan’s Honda, Toyota, and Nissan are the companies I am talking about here. This is of course excluding German automakers such as BMW, Audi, Mercedes, and Volkswagen, all of whom are still producing diesel fueled engines in the US market. What we have yet to see is if they will follow in the example of these other 6 companies. Something I wonder, does this move away from diesel pave the way for the massive onset of the electric car? I guess we’ll be able to tell by next year.

In other news, the Italian automaker Fiat (which bought out Chrysler earlier this year) has announced plans to begin reintroducing themselves into the American market by 2011. Specific plans are at this point nothing more than speculation; I wager that we will hear much more on this in the coming months.

Finally I’d like to end today’s article on a positive note (something I so rarely get to do). Do you remember the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)? This was one of the first moves of the Obama administration in an effort to combat unemployment and stimulate the economy when it was signed into law on February 17. This agency has released a progress report regarding the release of funds into the economy. You can check out the specifics here www.recovery.gov . As far as the Department of Transportation: the agency is claiming that the massive infrastructure overhaul that was promised in campaign season last year, is being delivered upon with up to 50 percent of the highway reconstruction funds having been allocated within the first 150 days. This is very good news for the economy as it will definitely combat unemployment in a big way. You can read more about this on the DOT blog at http://fastlane.dot.gov .