Michigan Discovers They Be The Last Ones Still Buying American Cars

Michigan car buyers tend to purchase what their neighbors make, but that doesn't matter as much to the rest of the country, according to an analysis of data from the "cash for clunkers" incentive program.

"We really are a whole different planet here in Michigan," said Stephanie Brinley, product analyst for AutoPacific Inc. in Troy.

For example: 81.1 percent of Michiganians traded in domestic clunkers and bought domestic replacements, but that number dropped to 42.8 percent in the rest of the nation, according to a breakdown of data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on the program, officially known as the Car Allowance Rebate System, intended to boost sales of fuel efficient vehicles.


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