The chronicle=news., 1912-12-30


all supplies as we do In enormous
quantities. the savings are tremen-
dous. Here Hes the secret Of our
ability to sell ears M the prices VIC
do.
In lyl; We shall require 500.
900 tires. II We could resell these
tires 10 small concerns at the price
they pay. We would not need to make
u dollar profit on the car--the pro-
fits on the tires would be sufficient.
I've buy standard tires In such great
Quantities that the price IL cut down
to rock bottom. Suppose. for In
istancc. we should resell at u profit
OF 500 per tire. that would mean
$500. .OON--n conservative divident
on our S:.OOO.O0O capital.
so you see where our big advan-
ltage iics. Figure up. II you can. our
purchase OF tires. steel and gas In
amountx that command bottom
prices. aud you may comprehend how
~ is that instead OF raising the
lprices OF our ears We eau lower them.
This years cut from $500 TO $500 Is
the biggest cut In percentage ever
made. I believe. by II motor ear man
lufacturer.
And II was only made possible
by the gigantic savings all along the
line OF production. and the fact that
We are and have been building only
lone standard model.
lit takes big money to operate u
Iplani like ours. Aud We shall not
lin the latch on a single bank In
Amcrira to help us finance the work.
We are quite proud Of the fact that
VI. use banks only TO put money In.
That means We never are under "a
!hcavy interest cxpcnse-anothcr bi.
ECONOMY that goes Into the car. for
Instead Of paying our interest ON
borrowed capital. and banks are pay
Ing us interest on our daily deposits.
Last year our gross sales amount-
cd to nearly Sac.OOO.0O0. u big fig
urc and one the Significance OF which
Is hard to grasp. When you tax. In
4" account thnt our gross receipts
exceeded those Of some OF the large
railroads for the same period. you
lean get some conception OF the vol
;umc of our trade. The business
coming twelve months Will reach u
total of nearly 3i:0.0Oo.000. Bear
IN mind. too. that this Is only = ten
year old business. The first year
Ford did u business Of only $4,000
Each succeeding year to date the
tanount has morct han ioublcsi-and
We have hardly started. II II "a rec.
ord cI,Aaiicd by no commercial propo-
sitiOn In this or any other country.
In the auto. or any other business.
IN this or any other age
Ford figures cited By Mr.. Haw-
kins are intensely intcrcatinx. espc.
lcIslly tho way he Introduced them
for apt illustrating purposcs. For
instance. he will tell you that un.
idcr his command are n,orct han 5000
ford dealers. Quite n little army
,ol men. And that including the
thousan ndS OF mechanics At the De-
troit plant. and In the different out.
side plants. making Ford parts cx-
clusivcly with their families there
Is a grand total Of more than lO0.-
900 persons living on tho fruit OF
the Ford enterprise. A. Mr.. Haw.
kluH put II.
THAT 10000 persons Is about
one fifth OF the population OF the
city OF Detroit.
What are the prospects for an
increased automobile production as
the years go by?" Mr.. Hawkins ask
cd.
well. OF course. a good deal de-
pcnds on various conditions. Good
roads will have lot to do with It.
Edison has said That the automo-
bile has given more pleasure to more
people than anything else ever
made And besides. IL is an abridg-
or OF space. and saver Of time. II
gives wonderful pleasure, and II
saves time. rare combination. and
ono that insurcs continuance OF
business. We ourselves. even with a
contemplated production OF 100000
ears in u single year. consider we are
only Just getting started and that the
future Ford is away beyond caIcu-
latiOn, as there are 10 prccedents to
guide us. We had no trouble selling
more than $4,000 cars last year. II
fs getting easier and easier to sell
all We can make. The car is univcr-
sally recognised the world over
we are properly financed. and equip
ped to build in maximum quantities.
and with our selling organization can