GM: ‘Clunker’ was good for Cobalt

STAFF REPORT

General Motors vehicles accounted for 17.6 percent of the 690,000 new cars purchased under the Car Allowance Rebate System, according to final numbers from the federal government.

Only Toyota, which had a 19.4 percent share, sold more vehicles under the $3 billion program, which was designed to stimulate the ailing auto industry by pulling gas guzzlers off the road in favor of new, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

“The program was good for our car,” said Tom Mock, communications manager for the Lordstown General Motors Complex. “I can also tell you the Cobalt was consistently in the top 10 of new vehicles.”

In the final numbers, the Cobalt was not among the top 10 new vehicles purchased, but Mock said that it could have slipped because of a lack of supply.

“We do know there was some supply issue during the course of the month with having enough Cobalts out in the field,” Mock said.

Mock said the so-called “Cash for Clunkers” program helped demand for the Cobalt, but that the Lordstown plant had heard about depleted inventories of the vehicle before the program began.

General Motors announced last week that it would recall 1,050 employees to its Lordstown plant.

The state of Ohio ranked eighth among the 50 states in the number of dollars it requested from the $3 billion pool, according to government data. Ohio dealerships accounted for more than $136 million of the $2.88 billion requested.