• USA Today, Marketing Daily, Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:45 AM

The Cash for Clunkers program resulted in a total of 690,114 new car sales, according to the vouchers dealers applied for by the Transportation Department's Tuesday deadline, Chris Woodyard reports. Taxpayers will shell out nearly $2.9 billion.

Toyota had the largest share (19.4%), followed by General Motors (17.6%) and Ford (14.4%). Top five cars purchased were: Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra. The top five cars traded in were: Ford Explorer 4WD, Ford F-150 pickup, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford Explorer 2WD and Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan2.

A CNW Marketing Research survey of about 1,000 auto Cash-for-Clunkers traders finds that 17% regret the decision now that they are facing monthly car payments. In normal times, remorse hits 6% to 8% of new vehicle buyers within a month. Texas home builder John Kounalis misses being able to throw junk into the bed of his old Dodge pickup, but he allows for the advantages of a working horn and wipers on his new Ford Escape SUV.

Marketing Daily's Karl Greenberg reports that Edmunds.com predicts a lull in auto sales in the forth quarter thanks to satiation combined with a double whammy of limited selection and higher prices.

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