Cash for Clunkers Might Be Working

Ford was the only automaker of the Big 3 that didn't take bailout money. But the Cash for Clunkers rebate program has Ford coming up roses. The top 3 vehicles traded in under the program are all Ford Explorers (1998, '97 and '96 models), the Department of Transportation announced today. And the top car bought under the program: Ford Focus, followed by the Honda Civic.

As one blogger put it, "Ford wins Cash for Clunkers 500." The automaker will post its first sales gain since 2007 because of the program, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.

Average fuel mileage increase so far is 9.4 mpg, or 61 percent. That's way better than the 4 mpg minimum spread required to trade a vehicle in for the $3,500 rebate toward a new car.

Earlier today I wrote that other rebate programs designed to stimulate sales of hybrid vehicles don't work as planned. But despite concerns that the Cash for Clunkers program might do little more than fund SUV upgrades, the early data suggest it is getting gas guzzlers off the road and replacing them with smaller, far more fuel efficient cars. If that trend holds, the program might prove critics wrong (excepting those in our poll who simply think the free market should dictate all this [33 percent as of this writing]).

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicates the program, which initially was funded with $1 billion, will likely get another $2 billion.

In The Water Cooler, Imaginova's Editorial Director Robert Roy Britt looks at what people are talking about in the world of science and beyond. Find more in the archives and on Twitter.