The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to provide an extra $2 billion in funding to the popular “Cash for Clunkers” program.

A vehicle sits in a dumpster on display in front of Bill Wink Chevrolet dealership to attract customers in for the “Cash For Clunkers’ program in Dearborn, Michigan August 6, 2009. The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to extend the popular “cash for clunkers” auto sales incentive bill. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

The House passed an extension for the program, also known as the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), last week.
Senators voted 60 to 37 to save the program from the chopping block. President Barack Obama was expected to quickly give it the final approval.

Originally, the program allotted $1 billion to last through November, but that money was expected to run out soon. Figures released by the government on Wednesday showed that more than $775 million of the program’s funds had been spent and that over 185,000 new vehicles had been purchased.

Transportation Department officials believe that the newly-approved funds will last at least through Labor Day, which falls on September 7.

The wildly popular program offers credit of up to $4,500 for trading in less fuel-efficient vehicles at dealerships for new ones. Cars traded-in under the program must have mile-per-gallon ratings of 18 and under when combining highway and city numbers.

Dealerships expect more and more consumers to continue using the program, and the top sellers have been fuel efficient models like the Toyota Corolla (first among cars sold), Ford Fusion (second), and Honda Civic (third).

Many lawmakers including Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow were happy to see the law pass, but others believed the program serves only as a band-aid over a more serious problem.

Several failed amendments were proposed to the legislation, including one from Sen. Tom Colburn of Oklahoma that would have allowed the “clunkers” to be donated to charity or low-income families. But the program will continue with the vehicles being crushed, with some parts salvaged, a practice that opponents say destroys much-needed capital within the debt-riddled U.S. economy.

Proponents of the plan point to the importance of getting more fuel-efficient vehicles on the road, as well as giving struggling automakers a boost.

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has praised the program, saying “it will help some consumers put a new vehicle in their driveway; it will help our great domestic automakers move vehicles off the showroom floor; and it will help our environment by getting less efficient models off the road.”

For more information on the program, visit www.cars.gov or call 1.866.CAR.7891.