With Cash for Clunkers mostly over, Consumer Reports looks at the most popular new cars and the most popular clunkers that were traded in.

Here are the most popular new cars:

1. 1. Toyota Corolla
2. 2. Honda Civic
3. 3. Ford Focus
4. 4. Toyota Camry
5. 5. Hyundai Elantra
6. 6. Toyota Prius
7. 7. Nissan Versa
8. 8. Ford Escape FWD
9. 9. Honda Fit
10. 10. Honda CR-V AWD

And the most popular trade-ins:

1. 1. Ford Explorer 4WD
2. 2. Ford F150 Pickup 2WD
3. 3. Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD
4. 4. Jeep Cherokee 4WD
5. 5. Ford Explorer 2WD
6. 6. Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan
7. 7. Chevrolet Blazer 4WD
8. 8. Ford F-150 Pickup 4WD
9. 9. Chevrolet C1500 Pickup 2WD
10. 10. Ford Windstar

CR notes that 84 percent of trade-ins were trucks, and 59 percent of the new purchases were cars, and that “the most-popular new cars bought through the program all offer very good fuel economy, contributing to the significant fuel savings.” According to the NHTSA data there was an average 15.8 mpg fuel economy on traded-in models and 25 mpg on the new, replacement vehicles – an overall 9.2 mpg increase.

In fuel economy and environmental terms, it seems like Cash for Clunkers was a success. The speed at which the allocated and additional money ran out demonstrate that the program was a hit with consumers, and we hope it helped the auto industry, although we can’t help noticing that nine eight of the top ten cars purchased are Japanese [and Korean].

Cash for clunkers: Top 10 most popular new cars and trade ins [CRO]
(Photo: tjean314)

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