The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-05-15
MEDIUM PRICE CAR
is A GOOD SELLER
Local Motoring Public Buy
ing Cars For From ST.
900 to $500.

That the medium-priced automobile
leads all others of whatever price in
point of number bought is the great
vital fact in list of statistics COM
piled by a prominent motor car jour
nal.
More than 100000 people, these fig
ures show, have bought cars for the
| season of 1918. These 100000 all are
of the medium-price class.
The number of medium priced QUITO
mobiles sold far outstrips that sold of
the high-priced and below one thous-
and dollar class. And the figures re-
ferred to are expected to be eclipsed
| by the demand for the medium-priced
car in 1914. In Richmond three-fourths
of the cars sold have been of the me-
dium-priced class this year and, the
proportion will be exceeded, according
| to automobile merchants, by the fig
ures next season.
more than 100000 people, accord
| ing to some statistics which were re-
Gently compiled, have demanded me-
dium-priced cars for the season of
1913" said John N. WHY'S, of Toledo,
president of the Willys-Overland COM
pany, automobile manufacturers of
that city. Not only does this astound-
ing total give the laymen an idea of
the phenomenal growth of the indus
| try in the short span of it's life, but
more especially does 1t Impress upon
every one the conviction that the me-
| n irIr ri 10Th do
come into it's own. 1t only proves
what many manufacturers have long
contended-that the words ''automo-
| bile and fad" or luxury" are no
longer synonymous; that they are as
far separated as the two poles of the
earth.
Look Askance at 81 900 Car.
only few years ago there was a
! tendency among the wealthy to look
askance at the medium-priced automo-
bile, as a cheap makeshift by which
people of moderate means initiated
their neighbors who We're more TO-
tunate financially. Today there are
fully as many medium-priced cars be-
ing sold to the people of wealth as to
those who, because of their financial
and to insist upon getting their mon
ey's worth before buying. No longer
is the low-priced car the distinctive
vehicle of the small business man and
the salaried clerk who feels that, at
last, he can buy an automobile. In
the garages of hundreds of wealthy
citizens of the United States and other
countries are to be found the medium
powered, medium priced American
cars beside the expensive palace Gre
ations of foreign and domestic manu-
facture. The car selling for $1,000 or
Whereabouts is no longer the scorn of
the rich and the joy of the moderately
situated; it is the answer to the eco
nomic question: What will give me
the best return for the price invest
ed?"
Medium-priced Car Leads.
That the medium-priced car leads in
Richmond is the opinion of those real
ly familiar with the motoring public
of the city. There are very few cars
here selling at retail price of over
the $4,000 mark The greater portion
sell between the figures of $500 and
$500. OF course there are several
instances in which the selling price of
the automobile exceeds the $4,000
mark. But these cases are exception
al, and are not the general rule. 1t
lis the well-to-do farmer, the business
man, the professional man of this city
who are buying the medium and even
low-priced cars, being as they have
said unable financially to spend more
for the original cost of the car. and
not wishing to do so. when they would
get the same value received in a lower
priced car
Time was, as Mr.. WHY'S says, when
the motoring public here as elsewhere
machine. This was justified in a
great degree through the comparative
ineficiency of the low-priced cars of
several years ago. 1t cost a great
deal of money to the manufacturer to
put out as good a car as he knew. and
he was compelled TO charge compar
atively high price for ii. Such cars
as We're manufactured at lower price
were of low quality and gave low serv-
ice. But the manufacturers have sim
plified construction, reduced the cost
of materials. time and labor, and have
produced good car for the last sew
eral seasons at a low price. And the
price seems to be dropping steadily
, upon the increase.