Here’s a quick comparison of the market share for US auto sales compared with participation in the Car Allowance Rebate System (aka “Cash for Clunkers”).
The distribution of rebates among top manufacturers tracks pretty closely to their recent market share. But, if you look closely, you’ll see that GM, Ford, and Chrysler are all slightly below expectations, while all the imports (except VW) are above.
Conclusion: import manufacturers got a larger share of the incentive program than their general market share would anticipate.
Data sources:
- Market share (July 2009), Wall Street Journal online
- Cash for Clunkers data (August 26 2009), CARS website