Local car dealerships did see some Cash for Clunker trades barely boosting net mileage, but most sales had major increases in efficiency.

The “vast majority” of the 90 purchases at Palmen Motors, 5431 75th St., through the program during the summer led to jumps in the 8 mpg to 10 mpg range, said Ralph Belliveau, general manager. Many trade-ins were of trucks replaced by smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles.

Maybe 10 percent of sales involved getting rid of older Dodge Ram, Ford or GM trucks for new Dodge trucks, resulting in one to two mile per gallon gains, he said.

The Associated Press reported Thursday that the $3 billion federal program involved many thousand cases of old pickup trucks being swapped for new ones, with 1 to 3 mpg improvements. Some critics said the initiative did less for the environment than it did for business.

Belliveau said the AP report didn’t show how much cleaner the new trucks run compared to ones built 10 to 15 years ago.

“A truck with a one to two mile per gallon difference might not be a stellar improvement, but there’s a lot less sulphur and carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gases, that are going into the atmosphere from them,” he said.

Between 30 percent and 40 percent of trade-ins were trucks at Palmen, he said.

Tony Wheatley, general manager at Gordie Boucher Ford of Kenosha, 8301 75th St., said many trade-ins included older, low mileage trucks and sport utility vehicles such as Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango.

Some were traded for trucks, but a good number of them were swapped for Ford Focus, Fusion and Escape, which were the most popular of the almost 50 vehicles sold through the program there, he said.

Kevin Ryczek, general manager at Hartnell Chevrolet, 7800 Antioch Road, Salem, said there were some trucks traded-in for other trucks, with net increases between one and five miles per gallon, through the Clunkers arrangement.

Most of the sales were switching larger SUVs and trucks for cars, the most popular being the Chevy Malibu and HHR, a smaller SUV. Ryczek said the program helped the environment as well as the bottom line.

Many buyers would not have visited the showroom without the Clunker incentive, he said.