Edmunds.com fires back at White House cash-for-clunkers slam
| Atlanta
Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl is defending his company鈥檚 claim that the Cash for Clunkers program was basically a lemon, saying a recent report simply reiterated what鈥檚 well known in the car industry: Incentive programs are 鈥渆yewateringly expensive.鈥�
After taking on Fox News and the US Chamber of Commerce as part of a new media strategy aimed at perceived political opponents, the White House turned on Edmunds鈥� critical report of the $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program.
In a post titled 鈥淏usy covering car sales on Mars, Edmunds.com gets it wrong (again) on Cash for Clunkers,鈥� the White House charged the firm with 鈥渢rying to grab headlines and get on cable TV鈥� while the analysis doesn鈥檛 withstand 鈥渂asic scrutiny.鈥�
Founded in 1966, is the Santa Monica, Calif.-based publisher of the Blue Book series. Basically a consumer company supplying industry analysis to subscribers, Edmunds.com also offers the 鈥淭rue Market Value鈥� tool.
So what did Edmunds do to warrant a snarl from the White House? For one thing, its report did grab headlines, including a well-read Monitor report.
According to Edmunds, only 125,000 of the 690,000 cars sold during the taxpayer-funded promotion were sales inspired by the program as opposed to those that would have happened anyway. Edmunds then divided that number by the total price tag and 惫辞颈濒脿: Each car purchased cost the American taxpayer $24,000.
Besides the no-nonsense price tag (an Edmunds鈥� specialty) there鈥檚 nothing new about the premise of the report, Anwyl contends. (The White House used dealer reports to highlight the program鈥檚 success while Edmunds used comparative historical sales figures to get its numbers.)
鈥淲e got real math behind this for the first time,鈥� says Mr. Anwyl in a phone interview, before landing a friendly jab referencing this summer's "Beer Summit" at the White House. 鈥淲e need to send an invitation to the President to come out, we鈥檒l have a beer and a photo opportunity, and walk him through the data. He might find it eye-opening.鈥�
More seriously, Anwyl says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 shocking and somewhat troubling that this is something the White House would pick up. This administration more than any other administration is invested heavily in the auto industry, so you would hope that they would had done a little more homework than their response suggests.鈥�
The White House post instead quoted the President鈥檚 own Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) pointing out that the program increased GDP by 1.7 percent in the third quarter and will create 70,000 jobs in the second half of 2009. It took issue with Edmunds鈥� notion that 80 percent of the payback from the program will take place in 2009, leaving little residual effect on the auto industry into 2010.
鈥淚n other words,鈥� writes Macon Phillips, the White House鈥檚 "new media" chief, 鈥渁ll the other cars were being sold on Mars while the rest of the country was caught up in the excitement of the Cash for Clunkers program. The CEA鈥檚 analysis is transparent and comprehensive 鈥� Edmunds.com, on the other hand, is promoting a bombastic press release without any public access to their underlying analysis. So put on your space suit and compare the two approaches yourself.鈥�
(If you鈥檙e so inclined, here are the links: and
Mike Jackson, CEO of , the country's largest new-car dealer chain, agrees with the White House鈥檚 tough response, calling the Edmunds' study "uncharacteristically shoddy,鈥� according to USA Today.
"Simply put, they've misrepresented the facts, and the White House is completely justified in calling them out on it,鈥� Mr. Jackson said.
The tiff comes after three weeks of debate over the White House鈥檚 new media strategy, employed first against Fox News and then against the US Chamber of Commerce to basically 鈥渞eality check鈥� the agendas of the President鈥檚 opposition.
The upside of the unusual strategy is scoring political points and rousing the liberal base. The downside is appearing thin-skinned and potentially losing credibility.
(By the way, one journalist for comparing White House media strategy to Nixon鈥檚 鈥渆nemies list鈥�.)
The difference with this latest brouhaha is that Edmunds.com can hardly be characterized as an opposition front. In fact, Anwyl says, most of its employees are Obama supporters.
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