SEMA Press Statement Re: Cash for Clunkers

WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), applauds efforts to
help consumers, automakers and dealerships with a program to stimulate new car
sales. We support the concept of government-issued vouchers toward the purchase
of fuel-efficient new vehicles and allowing consumers to deduct the car interest
payments on their taxes.

However, SEMA continues to oppose tying these vouchers to vehicle scrappage
programs, known as "cash for clunkers." The programs accelerate the demise of
older vehicles, which are then typically crushed into blocks of sheet metal.
Scrappage programs focus on a car's age rather than how much it is driven or its
actual emissions. SEMA has consistently warned against wasting taxpayer dollars
on a program that may produce an artificial spike in sales, but does not reduce
emissions or increase fuel efficiency.

Automakers and dealers need to sell cars in order to survive, but potential
buyers have hit the brakes in these tough economic times. Scrappage programs
actually would deny vouchers to the majority of people who may want to buy a new
car but don`t have an eligible older car to trade. Instead, these programs will
be misused by those who own two or three older cars and seek to take advantage
of the taxpayer give-away. Many of these cars aren`t frequently driven, if at
all, so destroying them will not clean the nation`s air or make us less
dependent on foreign oil.

While supporters tout a similar German program as evidence of success, the
European Federation for Transport and the Environment (the pan-European
federation of environmental groups) has urged Germany and other countries to
abandon scrappage subsidies because they do more environmental harm than good by
artificially accelerating the car life cycle.

Scrappage programs hurt thousands of independent repair shops, auto restorers,
customizers and their customers across the country. This industry provides
thousands of American jobs and generates millions of dollars in local, state and
federal tax revenues. We encourage the President to help the entire auto
industry with programs that focus the incentive where it counts - on the
purchase of new vehicles and not destroying older cars.

ABOUT SEMA:

SEMA represents the $38.1 billion specialty automotive industry. Founded in
1963, the trade association has 7,358 member companies. It is the authoritative
source of research data, trends and market growth information for automakers and
the specialty auto products industry. The industry provides appearance,
performance, comfort, convenience and technology products for passenger cars,
minivans, trucks, SUVs, crossovers and recreational vehicles. For more
information, contact SEMA at 1575 S. Valley Vista Dr., Diamond Bar, CA,
91765-3914; call 909/396-0289; or visit www.sema.org or www.enjoythedrive.com.

SEMA
Della Domingo, 909-396-0289, ext. 130
dellad@sema.org

Copyright Business Wire 2009