Tax Credits: Another reason to buy a VUE Green Line

PurdueGuy · 09-15-2006, 04:38 AM

Exerpts from The Motley Fool: A Vue With Some Room

http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2006/mft06091425.htm

Quote:

...consider the Green Line's strong points. When compared with its competitors, its base price of $22,370 beats its cheapest SUV rival, Ford's Escape hybrid, by a good $3,000, and is just half the price of a top-of-the-line Lexus RX 400h. Moreover, although the Green Line falls short of its rivals on city-driving fuel efficiency, it beats all comers on highway mileage (32 mpg, according to EPA estimates) -- and it does this while providing better towing capacity and more horsepower than the Escape.

None of which, however, touches on the real reason why I think GM's Green Line is going to be a success story for the Detroit automaker...

You see, starting this year, the IRS is giving away tax credits to buyers of hybrid automobiles. The credits range in value from $250 to $3,400 and are an improvement on the tax deductions that were offered in years past. But there is a catch. Each carmaker has a quota attached to it. Only the first 60,000 buyers of any given company's cars get to claim the full credit, which means that right about now, Toyota and Lexus buyers are running up against their quota, and Honda buyers are eyeing their own quota warily...

Long story short: thanks to the U.S. Congress, Toyota and Honda hybrid shoppers are about see their expected tax credits start disappearing. For many, that might push them to another brand. And to whom will they turn for a cheap hybrid SUV, fully loaded with the optional tax credit package? GM.