- Dubai's Debt Woes Signal New Era for Creditors
- US Dollar Rises Against Most Currencies—Except Yen
- Shoppers Hit Black Friday Sales, Budgets Pared
- Fantasy Christmas Gifts 2009
- EA Sports Hopes to Pump Up Sales With Pop-Ups
- Cheap Robotic Hamsters Are Holiday's Unlikely Craze
- Car Insurance Scofflaws Raise Health Reform Doubt
- Steepest Black Friday Discounts, Revealed
- Tommy Hilfiger's Estate in Conn. Sells for $20 Million
- Surprising Options Trades in TiVo Shares
- EA Sports Hopes to Pump Up Sales Through Pop-Up Locations
- 8 Retailers that Gain During the Holidays
- Farrell: What's Different On This Black Friday
- 10 Dividend Picks For Your Portfolio: Chief Investors
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
MOST SHARED
- Finding the Holiday's Best Buys
- 8 Retailers that Gain During the Holidays
- Banks Play Down Dubai Exposure, Investors Still Wary
- Dubai Fallout Is a Correction, Not Another Crisis: El-Erian
- Attraction of Switzerland to Businesses
- More Asia Executives Resigned to Economy Flights: Survey
- ING Prices Share Issue at Hefty Discount
- San Miguel Sells $1.36 Billion Stake to Ally
Text Size 
AutoNation, the nation's largest auto dealership chain, said Saturday it hit the brakes on the popular Cash for Clunkers program three days early because it wants to make sure it can submit the paperwork on thousands of sales to the government before a Monday evening deadline.
 |
Under the rebate program, dealerships need to enter their Cash for Clunkers sales into a government Web site before the program expires on Monday at 8 p.m. so they can be reimbursed for the rebates of up to $4,500.
Some dealerships have reported delays accessing the Web site, prompting some to pull out early to buy themselves more time.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based AutoNation [AN
Loading...
()
] decided on Thursday to make Friday night its cutoff, said spokesman Marc Cannon.
"We're going to leave some deals on the table, we know that," Cannon said. "We just thought it was a smart thing to do. It gives us 72 hours to get every deal processed."
Still, Cannon said the company is not "the least bit worried" about getting paid.
AutoNation, which has some 220 locations in 15 states, has sold 11,000 cars under the rebate program as of Thursday night, and estimates the government owes it $45 million, Cannon said.
The Toyota Corolla, Ford Focus and Escape, and Honda Civic and Fit, have been among the most popular models sold by AutoNation under Cash for Clunkers, he said.
The company had yet to tally Friday's sales. Dealerships stayed open through midnight to wrap up purchases by last-minute shoppers, Cannon said.
"We stopped offering it when the last customer left," he said.
- Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
- Social enterprises are becoming a new asset class for the ethically-minded.
- With Americans cutting back on spending, holiday tipping will take another hit this year.
- More shoppers than ever plan to comparison-shop this season. Who will benefit?
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- Some of the nation's top bartenders offer suggestions on what to serve at holiday celebrations this year.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes