DEALERS' CLUNKER PAYMENTS START TODAY, FEDS SAY
DOT chief: 'We fixed our Web site problems'
NEIL ROLAND
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
AUGUST 4, 2009 - 12:28 PM ET
WASHINGTON -- Dealers will start getting reimbursed today for cash-for-clunkers credits paid to consumers, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said today.
"We fixed our Web site problems," LaHood said at a news conference here. "We believe processing will go much smoother."
He said dealers had filed 157,000 applications for $664 million in rebates.
The company contracted to handle the Transportation Department's computer system is Oracle Corp. Clerical processing is being handled by Citigroup Inc.
Citigroup has added staff in Delaware to handle the surge of dealer applications. LaHood said he believed both companies have made changes to improve their response time but gave no details.
Dealers are supposed to get paid within 10 days after filing for a rebate of the $3,500 or $4,500 credits given to customers. Because of bottlenecks in the Transportation Department's computer reporting system, many dealers have had problems filing applications since the program began July 24. Many dealers had begun making deals weeks in advance, adding to the initial backlog problem.
If the Senate follows the House, which last week passed a $2 billion cash-for-clunkers extension, funding should be adequate through Labor Day, LaHood said.
The Senate is scheduled to begin a month-long recess Saturday.
