El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-03-23

w 2 ASHINGTON, d C, March 70
NJ Nothing has contributed more
to the expansion Of the auto
mobile trade Of the country than the
gradual reduction in the price Of cars,
which has come about in the past Jew
years. As the experience Of car design
ers has brought them more nearly to
the Ideal car, the necessity for
continual changes has been ov-
ercome. and this, in turn mas
permitted the manufacturers 10
standardize their machinery and mus
reduce the cost Of manufacture me
result Of all this has been Jhat the
manufacturer is now able to build cars
which will sell at from $tOO 70 SIoJU'
which are comparable IN quaIi.I ~, W. u
cars that formerly cost from S10UJ 20
$500. All OF this has brought the AZ
tCmObile to untold thousands OF amer
leans, who could not afford them IN
der former prace scales
Low Priced Machines Demanded.
How important in the extension OF
the automobile industry this reQQcIlOn
or price has become, may be lnIerrS1
from the fact that over so percent OF
all the cars produced last year were
sold for $500 and less The low priced
automobile has met with WonoeIAu
sale. One corporation alone expects 70
turn ont Il 600 low priced machines
during the present year Ih1s output
Will represent as many cars as the ems
tire automobile industry Of England can
produce in three years al the present
rate of manufacture The English man
ufaCturers have felt grave concern
over the invasion Of the low priced
American automobile They ADMIT tiial
tie American manufacture OF 10"
priced machines can sell them at prices
that are very much under the Engllsn
standard. This arises from the LdcL
that in the production Of 10000 ident-
ical cars. the cost per car IS DOunu
tc be much less than in the production
of a thousand Identical cars the econo-
mics which may be introduced IN
than those which may be used IN
small factory.
Standard Auto for $3.50.
Perhaps the cheapest standard auto
n chile is one which sells for $3.50 These
machines are especially popular with
rural free delivery carriers One OF them
declares that he is able to negotiate
so hills every day In the year with MS
little machine, and that with proper
care, il renders him practically as much
service as would one costing twice IS
much. There are several machines
which sell for $780, and quite number
upon which the price is $500. COndi-
tons in the automobile industry have
50 adjusted themselves that one may
row purchase a very sturdy and mas
sive appearing touring car for less than
g thousand dollars.
The average price OF automobiles in
1912 will probably range around SlzUu
Many more viii be sold at figure low
er than $1,000 than at a figure higher.
but the higher priced cars will stun
command prices ranging between $500
and $4,000
The low priced and moderate priced
car o. 1912 models has nearly all
OF the latest improvements afforded ~ /
the progress Of automobile engineer
ing. Some Of them have the famous
patent of a Chicago newspaper man !
The experience OF this Chicago lDVen- [
tor again demonstrates that a prophet |
very often is without honor in his own
country. He could Do nothing with lis
invention in this country so he carried (
il to England. Europe vas quick to I
see its advantages, and very promptly /
adopted IL as a long step forward. IN I
automobile engineering. Since then. the I
inventor has come back TO America and I
has almost taken the entire automobile I
world by the ears
Pitfalls for BTyers.
One OF the greatest pitfalls into I
which the prospective purchaser Of an 4
automobile is in danger Of falling IS /
that OF buying a car which has not been I
built by a reliable concern There are I
dozens of mushroom automobile builS- I
ing concerns scattered throughout the Z
country, and one cannot read single /
trade journal without seeing a failure /
here and there As soon as these fall
uTes take place, repairs for the machine /
built by the insOlTent concern are very
difficult to get. with the result that the
IN replacing broken or worn parts
Even with the more stable manufactur-
ers. the price Of replacing broken or
worn parts impresses the buyer as eX-
cessiTe One automobile owner recently
took a catalog OF parts and found that
if he were to assemble all of the differ
ent parts Of his car together. the total
price would be nearly three times that
Of a complete automobile
Building machines which retail for
$1,000 and less IS a very profitable
proposition, as is disclosed by the an
nual balance sheet Of one of the prin-
cipal manufacturing corporations OF
the automobile industry. This balance
sheet shows that. during the past yea-.
the net profits Of this one corporation
amounted to more than $4,000. 600.
There are no recent statistics, showing
the difference between the cost of pro-
auction and selling. but the inquiry,
made by the census bureau in 1909 dis
closed the fact that profits on the 1871
DO cars made that year amounted to
several hundred dollars each.
Proves Boon to Many.
The advent OF the popular priced car
With yourself and be convinced that Il
nrfr Of ]