About Cash For Clunkers
We are also proud that our websites enabled consumers and retailers to be aware of this historic legislation during the legislative process so they could promote it to their local and state representatives. Most importantly, we are proud that our sites have gotten consumers excited about the program and buying a new vehicle that is better for our environment and economy. Now that it is passed and the NHTSA has a website available to the public, our website is directing our visitors to go to their website at www.Cars.gov for up to date information about the program. While we will continue to summarize the information that is available to the public we are now focusing our efforts on equipping dealers to educate local consumers in their market that qualify. In addition, we help retailers create their own programs that offer additional incentives to consumers who upgrade into a more fuel efficient vehicle so we can positively impact the economy, the environment and consumers. Cash For Clunkers is proud to have lead the effort to encourage dealers to offer incentives for consumers to purchase vehicles that are right for them and the environment.
To avoid disappointing the consumers who don’t qualify for the program we offer dealers a list of vehicles and consumers by market that have a higher probability of qualifying based on the government’s guidelines. This “clunker list” is available by market and can be used by retailers to conduct targeted communication campaigns to educate their local communities.
We recognize that a lot needs to happen to achieve the objectives set forth by this government program and we also realize that the best way to achieve these objectives is for the private sector to contribute as much or more to this mission as the public sector has. For this reason we are using our “Cash for Clunkers” dealer program to encourage dealerships to contribute a minimum of $500 up to $4500 of additional discounts to make it easier for consumers to get into a more fuel efficient vehicle.
The Cash For Clunkers Network of Information websites is leading an effort to encourage and equip dealers to educate local consumers in their market who qualify for the program by implementing a targeted communication campaign that includes a website, search marketing, banner ads, emails, direct mail to clunker list, tv, radio and in store merchandising. The primary strategy is to give retailers a targeted communication campaign that focuses on the clunker list.
The clunker list has been created to identify consumers and vehicles that have a higher probability of qualifying for the governments program. This list does not guarantee any qualifications. To learn if you qualify visit the only official government website, www.cars.gov
In addition to identifying consumers who own vehicles that qualify, we have identified a second list that identifies consumers who have a higher probability of being able to afford to buy and finance a vehicle with an average price of $12,000.
The list has been compiled by multiple databases based on 2 categories:
- Clunker List – this is focused on “vehicles that qualify”. This is defined by vehicles that have a higher probability of meeting the C.A.R.S. Program requirements. (owned and registered for 1 year, appropriate MPG by vehicle category, 25 years old or less etc)
- Qualified Clunker List – this adds a filter to the “Clunker List” that qualifies the customer and the car, rather than just the car. This list also considers income level, geographical data and related trends, purchase history, repos ect
To educate the public on the program it is critically important to start by identifying a list of people who have a higher probability of qualifying based on the public vehicle data and consumer data available. Here is a summary of what may happen if retailers take different approaches to their communication strategy.
The dealers that attempt to target all vehicles that qualify may face these problems:
- Unqualified consumers will flood into their dealership
- Unqualified consumers could blame dealers for their inability to get the consumer financing and it hurts their local brand
- Unqualified customers may clog the organizations infrastructure which would distract their personnel from qualified customers, which could hurt sales
- Retailers who do not target will likely spend a lot of money using mass marketing which costs more and attracts less qualified consumers
The dealers that target the customers and the vehicles that qualify:
- Qualified consumers will be able to purchase a vehicle
- Consumers will associate positive experience with the dealer
- Consumers who benefit from program will tell their friends and enhance the dealers local brand, customer satisfaction, referrals and loyalty
- They can spend less money to attract more qualified consumers who have a higher conversion ratio
Our network of sites is called Cash For Clunkers because of the popular name given to the concept by the press. While making its way through congress there were many bills with many names so the public and the press commonly referred to all versions of the bill as the “Cash For Clunkers” program. For this reason many consumer information sites, including ours, have utilized this publicly understood term to make it easier for consumers to understand. Sonic and other leaders in the automotive industry are excited about the program and are working hard to educate consumers who qualify so the program can help the customer and the economy while also helping the environment. Now that the NHTSA has a website live we encourage consumers to visit Cars.gov for up to date information and we will focus our efforts on encouraging and equipping dealers to educate the consumers who qualify in their market.