The jury is still out on Cash for Clunkers here in the US, though new car sales seem to have improved in the past months.
But in Germany. where a similar cash for clunkers program began one year ago, car sales plunged off of the proverbial cliff, posting almost a 30% decline last month compared to February of 2009. And analysts are predicting that 2010 new car sales could drop as much as 30% for the entire year, compared with 2009.
This news does not bode well for the German auto industry, but will the same apply here? Did Cash for Clunkers really rob from future sales? Or did it help kickstart our economy?