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.

How about this! The day after my update on Thursday about the congressional initiative to support failing dealerships: the House of Representatives passed the bill. This means of course that it now needs to make it through the senate (which is always near impossible) and pass through the president’s approval. Might I reiterate that just because it made it through the house does not necessarily mean that it will be signed into law. As I discussed on Thursday, this bill faces a Senate that is not nearly as supportive as the House, and presidential opposition. Still, many changes can and probably will be made to the bill which means it could be a law before (oh let’s just say) the end of August.

I know we have heard plenty of complaining from both sides of the aisle that this congress is a bit too loose in the purse strings, and believe me: this bill only furthers their point. This dealership bill is part of 24 billion dollar spending bill, which could be a key indicator of why Obama opposes it. As this latest bit of trouble for GM during their bankruptcy court trudges on, I’ll keep you posted.

So dealerships are closing in multiple places. Living anywhere in the country, chances are you have seen a dealership close to you shut its doors. In some extreme cases, what do you do if there is now nowhere close by to buy a new vehicle? I’m speaking only hypothetically of course, but the hypothetical may be a reality in certain instances. What about people who live in very rural areas that definitely do not have car dealerships? It is possible that before, they could have driven to a small town nearby (within an hour of course) to purchase a vehicle. And is it also possible that now, that dealership is no longer. Now I’m not saying that I hope this actually happens, but I do intend to point out that having a reliable auto shipper may be the answer to these people’s problem. With Terminal-to-Terminal shipping, extra cost could be incurred for these people who don’t live anywhere near these terminals. This is something that makes Door-to-Door delivery such a valued thing, and finding the right transport means finding the shipper that will cater to your needs.  Leave that to M3 Auto Shipper! (haven’t plugged them in a while, plus I don’t feel like I’ve ever taken the time to explain what it is that they do).

It’s Monday, July 13^th, and here is your automotive news for today.

It seems that GM’s bankruptcy isn’t going as smoothly as they may have initially wish it. During their bankruptcy hearings they announced their plans to close thousands of dealerships, ultimately saving the company billions of dollars (which makes even wonder if they considered other areas that they could cut back, perhaps we all need to read a little more deeply into this).

There has now been action on Capitol Hill. Some members of congress are fighting this possible incline in the unemployment rate and it’s a non-bipartisan issue. One congressman described this as strong-arming dealerships into signing a deal by giving them fear of their own closure. Charles Grassley, a Republican senator from Iowa, has already introduced legislation in the House Appropriations Committee that directly address this. Reportedly, out of the two bills in question, one has already passed committee, and is working it’s way up the legislature.

This legislation would restore terminated franchises to their status before GM and Chrysler file for Bankruptcy. Additionally, this would force any further hearings of the closing of these dealerships to be heard in State courts, rather than national bankruptcy courts which will probably make it much easier for the dealerships to have a fighting chance.

GM issued an opposing statement on July 6^th, 2009 through their National Dealer Council condemning the legislation. Which was quickly condemned by the Automotive Trade Association Executives Committee, who blast this letter claiming that this is just another example of GM’s heavy-handed tactics to get their way. However the spokesman for the company may not be lying when he says that if such legislation is passed, the company could be risking any progress they have made or would have made. I know the company doesn’t want to fire people, but this legislation would make it much harder to do so (maybe that’s a good thing) :/

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.

Here’s another interesting piece of auto industry news I happened across today. You may be familiar with a piece of legislation that has been discussed for a few months now and was voted on by the House of Representatives yesterday. This legislation is nicknamed “Cash for Guzzlers” and entails pretty much what you would expect given the title. This bill would allocate 1 billion dollars to a voucher system for car owners who wish to trade in “gas guzzlers” for a smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicle. Each owner would be eligible to receive 4500 dollars towards their purchase of the new vehicle. A novel idea, I mean, I think this would be a nice way to stimulate the populous: encouraging them to simultaneously buy an American vehicle and reduce their carbon footprint (which regardless of whether or not you like Al Gore, actually is an important issue).

Some lawmakers are calling this legislation just another attempt to bail out the auto industry. Bailoutbailoutbailout. Maybe the government is giving to much money to failing businesses, I’m not here to make any judgments Regardless of this squabbling, the bail.. I mean bill passed the House by just 24 votes and now moves into the Senate where it will probably die a painful and public death. This voucher system (if passed) would be in effect until November of this year.

In other news, a new car manufacturer called V-Vehicle will soon be opening its doors in Louisiana. This is just the latest from the Louisiana Economic Development team, and should do wonders for the (approximately) 1400 people it will employ. This company is another step in the right direction, as they will specialize in the production of high gas mileage vehicles. It’s got to worth something, I mean.. T. Boone Pickens attached his name to it as one of the chief investors. That guy is so much fun.

That’s all for this week. Wish me a happy birthday! (tomorrow)