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  3. The cash-for-clunkers program turned out to be a boon for Asian automakers and the small cars they specialize in. While American

The cash-for-clunkers program turned out to be a boon for Asian automakers and the small cars they specialize in. While American

admin2012-12-01  38
问题     The cash-for-clunkers program turned out to be a boon for Asian automakers and the small cars they specialize in. While American government officials hailed the monthlong program, which ended this week, as an overall stimulus to the economy, the biggest winner was Toyota, which accounted for 19 percent of all sales and had two of the top three best-selling models.
    Detroit’s three automakers — General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — accounted for 38.6 percent of the vehicles sold. That figure is substantially less than the 45 percent combined market share that the Detroit companies posted in the first seven months of the year, while Japan’s largest automakers — Toyota, Honda and Nissan — sold 41 percent of the new vehicles in the program, compared with the 34 percent combined share they had through July of this year. The Toyota Corolla was the top seller, followed by the Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra.
    The success of Toyota and the other Asian automakers was driven by the type of cars in their showrooms. Participants in the clunkers program clearly were interested in downsizing to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. About 84 percent of the clunkers traded in were trucks, and 59 percent of the vehicles purchased were cars.
    The interest in small cars, however, could be a hopeful sign for the American auto companies as well. Ford is betting that consumer tastes will continue to shift away from big vehicles, and is bringing out new versions of the Focus and Fiesta subcompact G.M. and Chrysler have indicated that their postbankruptcy dealer showrooms will feature more small cars — and fewer trucks.
    Over all, the clunker program will have an impact on lowering fuel consumption, albeit a small one given the number of vehicles involved. The average fuel economy of the vehicles turned in was just under 16 miles per gallon, compared with an average of almost 25 miles per gallon for vehicles bought in the program.
    A preliminary analysis of the program by the Obama administration said that third-quarter economic growth has been 0.4 percent higher because of auto sales in July and August. In addition, G.M., Ford and Honda all announced that they would increase production at some United States plants because of the increased demand generated by cash for clunkers.
    Virtually every automaker reported increased showroom traffic because of the program. Just getting prospective buyers back into dealerships brought some measure of relief to an industry stuck in its worst sales slump in 25 years.
    Industry analysts said the surge in interest would be followed by a letdown now that the program was over. "Cash for clunkers distorted the market in a way that benefited the industry for four weeks," said Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of the auto-research Web site Edmunds.com. "Now the payback begins." Mr. Anwyl predicted that consumers might face higher prices on some models that were depleted by clunker sales. Also, manufacturers have little incentive to provide their own sales incentives because inventories are low.
Mr. Anwyl would probably agree in future that
选项 A、consumers will pay more to buy Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic.
B、government will hold more similar programs in other industries.
C、auto industry will recover from its worst sales slump in 25 years.
D、manufacturers will increase production to increase inventories.
答案A
解析 推理判断题。根据题干中人名关键词将答案定位于尾段。最后两句提到，由于活动中有些车型卖得好导致库存锐减，这些车型价格势必会提高。另外，同样由于存货少，汽车制造商们对自身的产品促销积极性也不高；结合第二段尾句，活动中销量最大的车型是丰田花冠和本田思域，可以推断花冠和思域的价格可能会升高，而且厂家也不会再有什么优惠，故[A]为答案。美国政府虽然对此次活动持肯定态度，但是否还会在其他行业举办类似活动还无从得知，排除[B]。第七段尾句谈到。现在是汽车行业25年来的销售低谷，与潜在买家达成交易多少给了汽车制造商们一些安慰，但不能依此推断汽车行业自此将会走出低谷，排除[C]。第六段尾句说到通用、福特和本田都宣称会在美国一些工厂加大产量，但并不是所有车商都会增加生产。相反Mr．Anwyl认为因为库存锐减，买车价格会更高，车商促销积极性会降低，可以推断这些厂商可能不会扩大生 产增加库存，排除[D]。
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