The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-03-25
GROWTH OF AUTO INDUSTRY:
(By Benjamin Briscoe. President, Unit-
 ed States Motor Co)


 By 'Benjamip Briscoe. President, Unfit
 ed States Motor Co)
 The best foresight into automobile trade prospects in 1911 is that which gives due consideration to laws of de- mand and: supply the way by which need of the public for automobiles has been met in the past and the extent to; which industrial affairs in general are apt to affect this particular line .of business. Experience having, shown that demand is heavy, healthy and justified; that automobile manufactur- CTS have, met the demand with wor- thy. dependable cars and that present owners represent only a fractional parts@ the number who actually need them, it,ris. difficult to see how the industry-the real backbone of it. can do otherwise than enjoy a normal growth. History having taught. that the fautomobile industry is less suscep- tible to general economic forces and great Tffstnn.ffee has not yet been supplied 4s:there is4nnatfliEg 4Q expect but natural expansion.
 While there twill always be a demand for high priced cars for pure pleasure; s- it is 5thes utility. try today. The ever-increasing work which it performs in the en- largenent. of mans business sphere is the chief factor in the current out put of the United States Motor Com pany. Real economy cars have an sterRaI future--a utility ahIez beyond all propofffor to their price Evafae.
 2, The city man, whose work involves traveling. needs an automobile as much as.every- one of the 3,0O0;000 far mers who eYn and operate their vast acreagea q ahe tfansportation oft per sons in a way that saves time and money at the same time giving pleas ure and health. is equal in usefulness to the transportation of merchandise.
 Recent price revision however, has done much to emphasize the need of caution in buying. It has also given rise to speeuia ion concerning the fu- ture trendffaf prices. Among several | sof the large companies the changes have amounted to a decided :readjust- The cause of the lower selling cost can hardly afTHe+- .or~'Ha
 thei question which car ahee shall buy saS dong as it -Isi-ce4t..,.ls n
 prices do not mean inferior cars.: Ney- ertheless the reasons given for some price changes have had an important bearing upon, the future conduct of Ethe industry. $
 The closest. student of 1autonpbile e economics cannot fail to observe. that the advantage is in favor of the au- tomobile buyer. From the days when the public had little knowledge of what a. certain type of automobile ought to cest-when the people. .,,paS- sively accepted the automobilen as a high priced propositionr-the watch word of the legitimate manufacturer has been economy .' He, made no secret of it. He built automobiles with the, best machinery and equip ment that was then obtainable., Soon he built bette8 automobiles and, while there may rhave been no striking. price changes sthe buyer. received greater value for the same money. s
 The: ratio of price to value was. in the buyers favor. The manufactur- Ter spent fortunes in, purchasing new machinery adaptable only to~tfre mak- ing of automobiles better and at less manufacturing cost. He. told the pub- lie what he had done and the buyer 4sa w,4the prospect of cheaper automo- shiles. Quality was constantly inereas- ed while, as: a rule, the price remain ed approximately. the same s The measure of, value for the, amount. of money invested became greater. Won derful improvements were made in