Ford Chairman: Clunkers Program Was Great For Our Industry (VIDEO)

Ford Chairman: Clunkers Program Was Great For Our Industry (VIDEO)

Is Ford the lone bright spot in the American auto industry?

Ford Executive Chairman William Ford, Jr. Spoke with CNBC today from a new plant in Michigan, which will be one of the largest renewable energy manufacturing facilities in the United States. The factory should add up to 4,000 jobs, Ford said.

Ford Motors has fared much better in the last year than its Detroit counterparts. In fact, buoyed by the oh-so-popular Cash For Clunkers program, Ford's August sales for were up 17 percent over last year. Ford said that the program "worked great for our industry."

There may be a bit of a Cash For Clunkers hangover in the auto market, however. "Right now there are really no cars on the dealers lots, they're really all sold out," Ford told CNBC. But when asked whether consumers will turn to buying new cars without government incentives, Ford added, "Obviously, we go as the general economy goes."

Of Ford's investment in plug-in cars, hybrids and other green technology innovations, Ford said:

"For many years people thought I was either crazy or irrelevant...during the lean years, we kept investing in [green technology]."

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