Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-22
AUTO BUSINESS
IS RATHER DULL
CHANGE IN MODELS .AFFEcTS
DEMAND
Dealers in High Priced Cars Affected
More Than Agents of Standard
Two-CyIinder
Cars
BY HAINEs w. Rl,.ar

period of temporary dullness per-
yades the local automobile market. : Thls
is only natural and should be expected
at this time of year. Few people want
to buy cars of the 1907 model at this
time when the new 1908 models are on
their way to the coast There may be
few changes contemplated in many ma
chimes and some 1908 Experiments may
be inferior to the 1907 machines, but II
is a weakness of the automobile consum-
er that he wants the latest thing, an
up to date article.
So many improvements are continually
taking place in the manufacture OF au-
tomobiles, an industry just In the ex-
detrimental stage of it's development, that
the consumer can hardly be blamed for
wanting the latest discovery. So fnfan-
tile is the industry that man owning
a four-year-old car is regarded as hav-
ing almost an antiquity on his hands,
and so revolutionary have been the
changes in the last four years that this
view of matters is more than likely to
be correct. This is the reason why
things are little dull at present In the
automobile line.
One line of trade, however, does not
seem to suffer much by the yearly
change of models This is the country,
or interior trade. Dealers who do large
business in small country towns around
Los Angeles and among ranchers in the
interior feel little falling of in that por-
ton of their trade at this time OF year.
The men who drive machines along the
dusty highways of the country are not
as particular about having the latest
numerals on the factory plate or their
machine as the men who speed along the
city boulevards All they want is some
thing to do the work and keep doing IT..
Therefore the demand from this source
is reasonably uniform throughout the
year.
It is the same proposition one meets
in clothes Dealers have to sell last
seasons clothes at discount, not be-
cause they are not just as good as the
later styles and just as serviceaple, pus
because they are out of date or out or
styIe. Style does not cut so much figure
in the country as in the city, either IN
clothes or autNnobilesr
Money in Sight
Considerable money has been changing
hands during the last few weeks Tor lgOS
cars. Some people buy the same model
of car from year to year and are willing
TO trust the factory to keep up to date
with their machines. Some makes OF
cars are becoming more or less Standard
lied and purchasers can buy in advance
and know Just what they are getting.
MANY agents on this coast receive only
a limited number of the 1908 cars and the
limit adds value to them if the, machines
have a good reputation. Nearly all the
1908 Packard runabouts were spoken for
some months ago, and unless the factory
decides to loosen up some on the supply
to the coast late purchasers will have TO
get some other model.
A number of the agents who handle
more or less standardized machines re-
port many reservations ahead for 1908
models The Peerless, Oldsmobile, Ell
more STANDARDIZATION. Franklin, Thom-
as, Pierce Arrow, Locomoble and few
others report many orders placed for
new machines to be delivered as soon as
possible, and in many cases a portion
of the purchase price has been deposited
In advance.
The 1uctuation in demand for ma
chimes is greater in the high priced cars
than in the cheaper machines. The man
who drives a $4,000 car usually wants 1t
to be the latest model. Owners of these
expensive cars are the ones that change
most frequently and who want to keep
up to the scratch with the fashions.
The drivers of less expensive two-cyl-
.inder models drive car longer, change
less frequently than do owners of ex-
pensive cars. The cheaper cars change
less from year to year, and their changes
are gradually introduced rather than
crowded In at the beginning of the
season.
The two-cylinder cars will be the first.
to become standardized, because there is
less demand and less chance for change
where there is limit in the price,
There are many of the two-cylinder ma