Canadian ecoAuto program killed after only two years
When the Canadian government announced its ecoAuto program a year ago, it was immediately controversial. By offering tax rebates to drivers who bought more cars with mileage above an specified level and applying extra taxes to thirstier vehicles, certain vehicles where left out in the cold. Setting arbitrary thresholds means that cars just above or below threshold might get comparable real world mileage but some buyers get the rebate while others don't. In this case, the Honda Fit was left out while the Toyota Yaris got the rebate. Since almost no one was entirely happy with the program, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has decided to let the program expire next year after the initial two-year run. As a replacement, Flaherty has announced that the federal government will provide $250 million over the next five years to help the auto industry develop greener technologies. Thanks to Darin for the tip!
[Source: Globe and Mail via EcoModder]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Der_Alte 2:39PM (2/27/2008)
The program had several criticisms, but taking the funds and giving them away in corporate welfare is not right. If a business cannot compete, they should not be in business period. If that means that bloated auto makers must go under because they can't produce efficient vehicles whilst others can, then so be it.
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GoodCheer 6:12PM (2/27/2008)
I would love to know if any of that $250 Million went to the ONLY Canadian car company Zenn. I suppose you could argue that they don't need it since their vehicles already vastly exceed the emissions requirements of every government anywhere.
If the location (or existence) of the mileage threshold values was a problem, it would be a simple matter to make a sliding scale... ie. make every mile per gallon a threshold. It saddens me to see that a revenue-neutral, demand-side system would be replaced with an expensive supply side one.
Jim Flaherty: Boooo.
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mike 6:22PM (2/27/2008)
My guess is the program was working better then big oil wanted.
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Snowdog 6:36PM (2/27/2008)
This first program didn't make sense for this government: it put money back in the pockets of ordinary citizens while being revenue neutral (ie fees on guzzlers paid for rebates on sippers).
Now this new program makes perfect sense for our current right wing government. It takes taxpayer money and gives it to corporations.
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MetroMPG.com 8:44PM (2/27/2008)
This piece also omits an important fact about the Fit: Honda modified it - and the Civic 5-speed - to squeeze a bit more efficiency from them to get them into rebate territory. Chrysler also tweaked one of its SUVs to get it out of the guzzler tax category.
So not only was the program influencing consumers, it was also having a small but real effect on the automakers products - getting them to aim slightly higher in terms of efficiency.
As an aside, I personally know of two families that bought Camry hybrids specifically because of the rebates offered on the vehicles.
And on a final note: the current government will certainly expire before the ecoAuto program does. Whether the coming election will see the same party returned to power is one question; whether the alternative party would retain ecoAuto if they win is another. Might be worth asking the candidates when the time comes.
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psarhjinian 12:41AM (2/28/2008)
While it had it's flaws (a CAFE-like light truck exemption that sees a car like the Rogue getting $1000 while the Versa gets squat was the big one) it was actually doing some good.
Considering that the Civic and Corolla (which did get the nod in stick-shift form) are both Canadian made, though, it's surprising to see it cancelled. I suspect someone lobbied good and hard to get it knifed, because it was having some positive effect
This isn't a very green government (our performance in Bali was downright embarassing) so I guess this is expected.
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