In this country the arguments about the incentive´s benefit and bushwa mainly stressed the fact, that the best-selling cash-for-clunkers-cars seemed to be the cheap and small ones from Brazil, India or Korea, while cars ‘made in germany’ don´t cash in on national tax money. Surprisingly the arguments fell silent, when the rankings showed Volkswagen on first position. Nobody seems to be aware, where the budget cars in Volkswagen´s portfolio are manufactured.
In the US the ranking of best-selling cars-for-clunkers (GM followed by Toyota, Ford, Honda and Chrysler) anticipates the same argument. However, another topic attracted more interest: The popular replacements for retired gas guzzlers are equiped thriftily with state-of-the-art Infotainment or Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS). So the stimulus package does not positively affect automotive electronics?
Though a drop in a bucket, it does, analysts say. The top-selling cash-for-clunkers models are far from being loaded from a technology standpoint, but they do include some essential infotainment features formerly available only on higher-end cars. And the safety features of the sold autos are much better than the trade-ins. Airbags, ECS, ADAS, park assist and more have not been standards a decade ago.
Now, as the trade cycle seems to move slow but self-propelled again, a quite more important question occupies the electronic manufacturing industry: Who did his homework during the last month?
