Even on minimum wage you can afford this little baby!

Interesting article written up from Ottawa!

A federal program to get old clunkers off the road had a bumpy start.

That’s one finding in an appraisal of the Retire Your Ride program, which ended in March.

An evaluation completed in February suggests there were plenty of potholes in the program’s early days.

The Conservatives announced the so-called scrappage program in 2008. It offered Canadians incentives, such as public transit passes and small amounts of cash, to junk older vehicles.

Environment Canada hired Ottawa consulting firm Goss Gilroy to evaluate the program shortly before it ended. The Canadian Press obtained the report under the Access to Information Act.

Read the full article here.

Anel Do?a Entegre Geri Gönü?üm Endüstri, Turkey’s first electrical and electronic waste recycling company, has established Turkey’s first junk car recycling plant, investing a total of $20 million.

The Otokumbara recycling plant aims to regain junk cars to the country’s economy. Anel Do?a targets to recycle annually some 100,000 vehicles. The company is expected to establish 23 waste processing plants in different regions of Turkey by 2020.

Read the entire article here.

More good news from the auto manufacturing industry as General Motors, in another sign of its progress since a government-led bankruptcy, said Thursday it is withdrawing its application for $14.4 billion in federal loans it had sought to help build more fuel-efficient cars.

GM, which has posted three straight profitable financial quarters since its 2009 bankruptcy, said it no longer needed the loans because the company’s cash position has improved. GM applied for the loans in 2009 to modernize plants to build fuel-efficient vehicles.

“This decision is based on our confidence in GM’s overall progress and strong, global business performance,” said Chris Liddell, GM vice chairman and chief financial officer. Liddell said withdrawing the application was “consistent with our goal to carry minimal debt on our balance sheet.”

The $25 billion low-interest loan program is administered by the Energy Department. It was created by a 2007 law to help car companies retool older factories to build green cars.

Getting Ready to Boost Chevy Volt Production

Separately, GM said it would explore ways to increase production of the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car. GM’s vice president of global design Ed Welburn said at the Washington Auto Show that GM would also accelerate its distribution of the Volt, making it available to dealers in 50 states by the end of the year.

GM sought bankruptcy protection in 2009 and accepted nearly $50 billion in government help. The new GM had an initial public offering of stock in November.

Several automakers and auto suppliers have applied for loans from the federal energy program. It is nice to see GM bounce back like this but I still am not  happy with my Grand Caravan.

Although I can certainly understand the challenge auto makers will face in selling green cars I do feel over the next 5 years consumers will start to change their attitude towards these eco-friendly cars.  As the new green cars look nicer and have more luxuries I think people will come around.   We will also need to likely see governments getting involved in the short-term to help make these cars more affordable through rebates and other promotions.

Technology and services company Bosch’s survey entitled, ‘Driving Green Britain’ discovered only five per cent of motorists planning to buy a new car would consider green credentials.

When asked to rank what was the main influence behind their purchase decision, 63 per cent of motorists surveyed said that price was the most important factor, closely followed by 56 per cent who said vehicle size was also influential. Motorists ranked design, style, brand and safety ahead of a car’s environmental impact, saying that green vehicles are just too expensive.

read the full story here.

This news will make all us greener folks stand up and cheer!  Should new cars be required to get 62 miles per gallon by 2025? That’s one scenario under an Obama administration notice filed Friday for drafting mileage standards on model years 2017 to 2025.

The fleet of new vehicles may need to meet a standard set somewhere from a low of 47 mpg to a high of 62 mpg, the administration said in its notice of intent.

An initial assessment shows the additional costs for producing high-mileage vehicles ranges from just under $800 to $3,500, the notice stated, but those costs could be “higher” when a more detailed analysis is completed by November.

The notice added, however, that the changes would lead to “lifetime savings due to reduced fuel costs of about $5,000 to over $7,000.”

Moreover, the mileage gains would be the equivalent of an annual decrease in carbon dioxide emissions per mile of 3 to 6 percent.

read the full article at msnbc