General Motors is pulling out all the stops in an effort to restore consumer confidence in its products. Beginning Monday, GM will offer a 60-day money back guarantee on all of its vehicles.

This is GM's first major marketing campaign since emerging from the depths of bankrtuptcy. The ad campaign puts the company's new chairman, Edward E. Whitacre Jr. into focus as the spokesman for the offer to give a full refund within 60 days on any GM car or truck.

The campaign is called "May the Best Car Win", and is aimed to not only restore consumer confidence, but also change GM's image as a financially struggling company with lesser products. The first television ad featuring Whitacre and the new campaign will begin airing on Sunday.

A media report says that Whitacre is hoping to restore confidence in GM just as Iacocca did with Chrysler ads in the 1980s.

Speaking of the campaign, Whitacre said:

"I'm happy to do it, I wanted to do it, and I think it is important to do it,. I am convinced that our cars are as good, if not better, than anybody else's."

The hugely successful "Cash for Clunkers" program will be terminated at 8pm on Monday, August 24. The government made the announcement on Thursday.

Dealers are predicting a rush to showrooms over the weekend, as customers seek to trade in their clunkers for a $3,500 to $4,5000 government rebate on a newer, more fuel-efficient model.

While dealers may see a rush this weekend, they do not need to worry that the rebate money will run out. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood promised that dealers will get their front money: "They're gonna get paid; we have the money to provide for them," he said.

The Transportation Department has projected that there "is enough money to continue accepting submissions until the Monday deadline."

This is great news for Ohio, and perhaps a sign that the "Cash For Clunkers" program did in fact help boost auto sales, and in turn, the local economy. On Tuesday, General Motors announced that it would be adding shifts and run some plants on overtime to increase production by 60,000 vehicles by year's end in response to the demand created by the government program

Consumers are trading in their gas-guzzling clunkers for new, more fuel efficient cars in record numbers and are breathing new life into the struggling auto industry. Another benefactor of the program are the nation's scrap yards.

Some scrap yard owners are on pace to meet their 2008 totals for vehicles purchased in just weeks, and because of the sudden boom in business, laid-off employees are even getting called back to work.

But, as one industry thrives, another finds itself struggling. As consumers cash in their beaten up vehicles for new ones under warranties and without any problems, mechanics are finding themselves with fewer repairs.

Mechanics don't just lose one repair when someone trades in an older vehicle, they also generally lose that customer's business for a few year while the car is under warranty.

Those are just some of the immediate effects of the government's CARS program.

Unless the Senate approves $2 billion in additional funding, the popular Cash for Clunkers program may be shut down by mid-week. On Sunday the Obama administration said they were optimistic that the Senate would approve the additional funding needed to extend the program, however, also warned that it would be suspended midweek without new funding.

The House of Representatives on Friday authorized an additional $2 billion for the program, after all of the initial $1 billion was used up just one week after the program began on July 24.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said:

"This has been a wildly popular program and given new life to auto dealers. This has worked very, very well."

LaHood added that the administration anticipates that the Senate will follow the House's lead and approve the additional funding. Questions began to emerge Sunday, however, about a possible Republican attempt to block the extension.

It is possible though that some opinions may be swayed today as the "Big 3" automakers report their monthly US sales. Industry analysts expect to see a bump in the number of vehicles sold, due mostly to the Cash for Clunkers program.

The federal government's "Cash for Clunkers" program was initially funded with $1 billion, which was supposed to last through November, or until the money ran out. The government, however, did not expect the cash to go nearly as fast as it has, with the entire $1 billion having been exhausted in just one week. The Dept. of Transportation threatened to terminate the program at midnight, however the White House said Thursday evening that they were exploring options to keep it going. Today, the House of Representatives voted to rush an additional $2 billion into the program.

The bill was approved with a vote of 316 to 119, and House members acted within only hours of learning from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that the program was nearly out of money. President Barack Obama said he was encouraged by their actions to keep alive a program that had "succeeded well beyond our expectations."

Officially called the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), the program was designed to help stimulate the economy and help the environment by spurring new car sales. Car owners are eligible to receive federal subsidies of up to $4500 for trading in their old cars for newer ones with much better gas mileage.

According to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer the money for the program would come from funds approved earlier this year as part of an economic stimulus bill.

The much-hyped federal "Cash for Clunkers" program may have been a victim of its own success. After just one week up and running, the program may have already run out of cash and some congressional officials have said that the House of Representatives may look into passing some kind of legislation to release more money into the program today, the last day of the session before the August recess begins.

Thursday evening the Department of Transportation told lawmakers it was suspending the "Cash for Clunkers" program at the stroke of midnight, but later the White House said it was still working to find other options. This created some confusion for both dealers and buyers.

The "Cash for Clunkers" program was supposed to run until Nov. 1, 2009, or until the money ran out. No one anticipated that it would run out so quickly. With the number of dealers participating in the program, the $1 billion would have been spend if each completed a dozen cash for clunkers deals. However, some dealers have made more in the range of 250 deals, 20 times what the government expected.

Now dealers are in a race to complete cash for clunker deals before the government runs out of cash and shuts down the program.

General motors and its dealers will soon be testing out a partnership with online auction giant eBay that would allow customers to bid on new vehicles, or buy them at predetermined prices online. GM unveiled the plan on Friday.

GM will begin testing the program in California, but they also have some other innovative ideas that they will be trying out over the next few weeks.

CEO Fritz Henderson said on Friday:

"We'll be testing this and other ideas with our dealers over the next few weeks and hope to expand and build upon them in the coming months.

Experiments are experiments. ... We are excited about it, but I wouldn't commit to rolling it out more broadly until we find out if it's successful."

Kelley Blue Book, www.kbb.com, the leading provider of new-car and used-car information, today announces the launch of its Cash for Clunkers Calculator on its top-rated Web site, kbb.com. Using the Cash for Clunkers Calculator, consumers can gain important details to assist them in determining if their current vehicle might be eligible for up to $4,500 toward the purchase of a more fuel-efficient new car, research new-car options, and reach a dealer -- all in one place.

Kbb.com provides a simple, interactive Cash for Clunkers Calculator to help consumers determine whether they may be eligible for a credit under the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), the official government name of the Cash for Clunkers program. The calculator helps consumers evaluate vehicles with model years between 1989 and 2009 based on make, model, condition, and mileage. The age of the vehicle, its fuel economy and the fuel efficiency rating of the new car are key factors to determine whether the vehicle qualifies for a 'Cash for Clunkers' credit toward the purchase of a new vehicle. The calculator also displays the Kelley Blue Book® Trade-In Value, to help consumers determine whether their vehicle is worth more or less than the possible credit they could receive from the CARS program.

Ford Motors Inc., the only Detroit automaker who did not receive a federal bailout loan last year, is now amongst the first three companies to get a loan from the government aimed at accelerating the development of more fuel efficient cars. Nissan and Tesla Motors are the other two companies who will be receiving loans for this purpose. Ford will be using their loan to retool some of its Midwest factories.

The $5.9 billion loan Ford was granted was only about half of what they initially requested, and will go to retool 11 Midwest factories. The money will help to make 13 of its models more efficient. Ford is planning to sell four models of electric vehicles by 2012.

Japanese car manufacturer Nissan will also receive $1.6 billion to overhaul its Smyrna, Tenn. factory, where it plans to build electric vehicles. Tesla Motors, a California based company, will receive $465 million to make electric vehicles and drive trains.