The U.S. government has decided to end the "cash for clunkers" program at 8 p.m. Monday, giving dealers and consumers one final weekend to junk a vehicle and buy a new and greener one, U.S. officials said Thursday.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday the expiration day was determined by using conservative sales estimates, to ensure that there is enough incentive money left in the pot to cover what's expected to be brisk sales this final weekend.
"This program has been a lifeline to the automobile industry, jump-starting a major sector of the economy and putting people back to work. At the same time, we've been able to take old, polluting cars off the road and help consumers purchase fuel efficient vehicles," LaHood said.
As of today, the Cash for Clunkers program has resulted in 457,476 vehicle deals worth 1.91 billion U.S. dollars in rebates.
Earlier this month, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law a 2 billion-dollar expansion of the program after the first 1 billion dollars ran out in the first days of the program. U.S. Congress approved a transfer of unspent funds from the 787 billion-dollar stimulus program to refuel the program.
But LaHood said this week the administration has no plans to seek more money for the program.