ZilviaBot

04-02-2009 01:40 PM

Filed under: Car Buying, Government/Legal, Green



Reiterating their position from last December, SEMA has issued a statement against the ever-more-likely "Cash for Clunkers" proposal. This proposal, which would give Americans a financial incentive to get rid of older vehicles in favor of new models, could grant incentives of $3,000 to $5,000 to scrap vehicles that are at least eight years old and buy a new car that gets at least 27 miles-per-gallon on the highway (24 mpg for trucks). SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, joins the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) in taking their opposition public. Here's their reasoning:

SEMA and the AAIA basically say that there are tremendous downsides to the Obama Administration's plan. SEMA argues that taxpayer dollars would be wasted "on a program that may produce an artificial spike in sales, but does not reduce emissions or increase fuel efficiency." SEMA also warns that the program will be "misused by those who own two or three older cars and seek to take advantage of the taxpayer give-away. Many of these cars aren't frequently driven, if at all, so destroying them will not clean the nation's air or make us less dependent on foreign oil." The AAIA puts the whole thing even more bluntly: Cash for Clunkers "will harm the environment, negatively impact car owners, waste billions of taxpayer dollars and hurt the hundreds of thousands of vehicle service and repair businesses in America."

The AAIA represents 100,000 repair shops, parts stores and distribution outlets while SEMA has 7,358 member companies. Clearly, both of these organizations benefit from having older cars that are no longer covered by warranty on America's roads. SEMA admits as much, saying that the government's proposal will "hurt thousands of independent repair shops, auto restorers, customizers and their customers across the country."

The AAIA recently tried to fight the bill by saying that landfills would be stuffed to the gills with scrapped cars if it becomes law. Of course, 84 percent of cars (by weight) are recycled and 95 percent of vehicles go through the recycling process in the U.S. There are other environmental reasons to oppose the proposal: tremendous amounts of energy and resources are required to build new cars, for example. And, without a requirement of a mpg increase from the scrapped vehicle (not just the stated minimums for the new vehicles), the Cash for Clunkers program won't necessarily have a huge impact on greening the nationwide fleet. But the government is interested in stimulating sales right now, and scrappage programs like have shown that they can work.

[Sources: SEMA; Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association / Photo: dave_7, CC2]Continue reading SEMA comes out against Cash For Clunkers. Again.

SEMA comes out against Cash For Clunkers. Again. originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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