More than half of U.S. 'clunkers' traded in for foreign cars

While the top 10 clunker trade-ins are U.S. brands, 53 percent of the new cars purchased are foreign brands. Ford Focus is the top seller, but the American car is followed by the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Toyota Prius and Toyota Camry. That's probably no surprise because the widest choice for fuel-efficient cars can be found in the foreign brands. That's exactly what helped to seriously wound the U.S. auto industry.

Luckily for U.S. employees, however, many of the cars in the top ten vehicle purchases are manufactured in the U.S. In addition to those in the top five, the rest of the top 10 includes Ford Escape, Hyundai Elantra, Dodge Caliber, Honda Fit, and Chevrolet Cobalt. U.S. car makers could have more in the top 10 if they offered more competitors in the fuel-efficient category.