Lada.jpgCall it what you will- cash for clunkers or rubles for rubbish, Russia is getting in on the rolling wreck game. The first 200,000 lucky customers who can produce any car at least 10 old will receive a voucher for 50,000 rubles to upgrade.

“One of the biggest problems of the Russian car industry is the average time they’ve been on the road,” said Alexei Rakhmanov, the head of the ministry’s auto department. “About 50 percent of all the cars are more than 10 years old. The pilot program will not only allow us to support the carmakers but also help renew Russia’s fleet.”

And so another global power starts to come to grip with the fact that organic economic growth takes longer than a 2-minute commercial break to achieve by turning themselves into one of the world’s largest pawn shops

Comments (16)

  1. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 1:15 PM

    Holy shit – this is borderline relevant!

  2. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 1:37 PM

    Yo Ding Dongs! What about Pequot and Samberg getting Wells Notices from the SEC….I guess you don’t see the relevant data there????? Sheesh!
    BESS!!!!!

  3. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 1:43 PM

    @2 how many wells notices? 46…? besides, ex-post facto, the sec is not going to bite:
    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=apmmZ.2ThySc
    “Amaranth to Pay $7.5 Million to Settle U.S. Charges (Update2)
    By Tina Seeley
    Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) — Amaranth Advisors LLC, a hedge fund that collapsed in 2006, will pay $7.5 million to settle allegations from U.S. regulators that it tried to manipulate natural-gas futures. “

  4. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 1:50 PM

    How many Wells notices did the AIG trading on 8/5, 8/6 produce?

  5. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 1:51 PM

    @3 At least it is slightly relevant and interesting!!!! Compare that topic to the tripe we’ve been fed the past week. BESS!!!!!

  6. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 1:56 PM

    hey – it’s a good photo~

  7. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 1:57 PM

    I can’t make it to the morning – this is killing me…

  8. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 1:59 PM

    @5 Bess, yes, I’m still waiting for the Fatties meets Finance analysis from the 6th. I had to resort to a kind commenter’s rare find of pic from a fashion blog to see the chunky chiquitas.
    We suffer in silence.

  9. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 1:59 PM

    MCC listens to hip hop?

  10. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 2:04 PM

    In Soviet Russia…cars for clunker program drives you!

  11. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 2:05 PM

    Gregs mom….If you are out there? Please send Greg a note and ask him to post it on DB. It will be the post of the week!
    -Someone who misses Gregs mom more than Bess

  12. Posted by BSD | August 12, 2009 at 2:12 PM

    Greg, your analogy is deeply flawed.
    Pawn shops underpay for goods that they then sell for a profit.
    US takes value-less crap and gives out free money.
    If anything it’s the anti-pawn shop.

  13. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 2:22 PM

    50k rubles, that’s nice, that’ll get you two Lada hubcaps a bottle of Starka and boom boom from Tatiana from the Urals.

  14. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 2:49 PM

    10 YEARS old
    YEEEAAAAARRRRRRRRSSSSSSS
    YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRSSSSSSSS
    arrrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhh

  15. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 3:18 PM

    @13 totally agree… Greg you’re an idiot, kill yourself. See financials for EZ Corp, owner of pay-day loan services and pawnshops…
    http://secfilings.nasdaq.com/filingFrameset.asp?FileName=0000950134%2D08%2D022121%2Etxt&FilePath=%5C2008%5C12%5C15%5C&CoName=EZCORP+INC&FormType=10%2DK&RcvdDate=12%2F15%2F2008&pdf=
    A company that truely knows the meaning of CREAM.

  16. Posted by guest | August 12, 2009 at 6:34 PM

    Greg’s “globe” of course excludes France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Romania, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain and Serbia who all enacted “cash-for-clunkers” programs earlier this year

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