Though the tax cut (genzei) for automobile acquisition and weight will continue to be in effect for so-called "eco cars" until at least the spring of 2012, on Sept. 30 the eco car rebate (hojokin) officially ends after having been extended once. The government had allocated more than ¥580 billion for the rebate program, ostensibly to promote the sale of fuel-efficient vehicles, though everybody understands it had more to do with helping car manufacturers and stimulating the economy.

And it worked. More than 4.5 million vehicles were sold under the rebate program. Sales were particularly good during the last month as the program wound down. Applications for rebates from new car buyers on Sept. 6 accounted for ¥11.6 billion in subsidies, the highest one-day amount since the program started more than a year ago. The reason is that people knew the program was about to end and wanted to get in on the deal before it did. The rebate amounts for applications on Sept. 7 could have been even higher except that there was only ¥10.2 billion left in the government rebate fund.

What this means is that some new car buyers, expecting to get in on the rebate, missed it. During the summer the government told car makers and dealerships to notify potential buyers that once the rebate money ran out the program would end, regardless of the original Sept. 30 cutoff date. Also, since the procedure for receiving the rebates requires paperwork, buyers had to take this lead time into consideration.