What's Selling In Cash For Clunkers?

They just can't let the facts stand for themselves...if the facts don't help, it's time to start spinning!  In this case, an analysis of the Cash for Clunkers program shows just how desperate the liberal Left is to hide the fact that Americans don't want itty bitty little golf carts.  CNN Money reports (h/t Ace of Spades):

What are people trading their clunkers in for? It depends on who you ask.

The government's results showed small cars as the top choice for shoppers looking for Cash for Clunker deals. But an independent analysis by Edmunds.com disputed those results, and showed that two full-size trucks and a small crossover SUV were actually among the top-ten buys.

The discrepancy is a result of the methods used. Edmunds.com uses traditional sales measurements, tallying sales by make and model. The government uses a more arcane measurement method that subdivides models according to engine and transmission types, counting them as separate models.

For example, the Ford Escape is available in six different versions including two- and four-wheel drive and hybrid versions. The government counts each version as a different vehicle using guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency. Only the front wheel drive, non-hybrid version made the government's top ten list.

The Ford Escape crossover SUV, instead of being the seventh-most popular vehicle under the program, as the government ranked it, was actually the best seller, according to Edmunds.com. The government pegged the Ford Focus as the top seller.

The problem, of course, is that this program is designed to 'upgrade' American drivers from those gas-guzzling CO2-emitting environment-slaying eeeeevil trucks and SUVs into their favorite cars, little tiny pop cans with wheels.  It isn't working.  Instead, even when people get free money to buy cars, they're buying what they want, and that includes trucks and SUVs, and in big numbers, too.  But, since that's precisely counter to the enviro-wacko philosophy of the administration, they use an old and outdated method of keeping track.

Here's the full top 10 list:

Edmunds.com: Top Clunker Buys

The most purchased vehicles under Cash for Clunkers if 2WD and 4WD versions are included.

Rank  Vehicle Includes Includes 4WD Includes Hybrid 1 Ford Escape Yes Yes 2 Ford Focus No No 3 Jeep Patriot Yes No 4 Dodge Caliber Yes No 5 Ford F-150 Yes No 6 Honda Civic No Yes 7 Chevrolet Silverado Yes Yes 8 Chevrolet Cobalt No No 9 Toyota Corolla No No 10 Ford Fusion Yes Yes

Personally, I would call the Jeep Patriot an SUV, too, but if the bumper stickers are anything to go by, Jeeps are their own category.  Still, the point remains that Americans don't want to drive lawn mowers, but the liberal Left continues pushing the nation in that direction.

There's my two cents.