Edmunds.com Tallies "Cash for Clunkers" Numbers; Uncovers Another Discrepancy
http://www.reuters.com/article/press...009+BW20090903
SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
August was perhaps the strangest month in automotive history. Thanks to "Cash for Clunkers," there was an unprecedented range in analyst`s sales forecasts.
Now that the numbers are out, analysts at Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, have reviewed how things actually played out, and have uncovered some mysteries in the process.
For example, the government`s press release reported that the program took 690,114 "clunkers" off the road. However, Edmunds.com`s experts tracking the program report that "clunker" trade-ins never accounted for more than 33.4
percent of weekly sales.
"
It is mathematically impossible for there to have been nearly 700,000 new car sales during the course of the program, given the actual sales numbers announced by automakers who should have no motive to under-report," remarks Edmunds.com
Senior Statistician Zhenwei Zhou, PhD. "The prominence of that number in the media does help to explain why some analysts` sales forecasts were way too
high."
Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs explores the possible explanations for this discrepancy and covers other interesting "Cash for Clunkers" findings in her report titled "New Math: Cash for Clunkers Numbers Don`t Add Up" at Edmunds`
AutoObserver.com.
"Cash for Clunkers" Numbers; Uncovers Another Discrepancy
