The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-10-19
CONTINUED SALE OF
AUTOS Is EXPLAINED
Small Investment Needed to
Buy Good Car Is What
Keeps Market Up.
ACCUSTOMED TO RIDE TOO

1t has been n source OF wonder TO many
persons, some of them in the automobile
trade itself, that tho business of selling
motor cars in this country has kept up
as well as Il has in spite of the great
war and its unfavorable effect on a num-
Der of other industries in this country.
Yet the explanation OF this appears to he
simple after all. There arc two reasons
In the explanation. One IL that auto
mobiles are cheap and tho other that
folks are too much used 10 automobiles
to give them UP. That is to say, the auto
mobile Ia approaching the stage OF being
n necessity rather than a luxury Just On
horses and carriages used TO be.
If tho great war had been fought three
years ago. say the automobile business
would have been knocked fiat At that
time automobile that now can be
bought for anywhere from $1,000 to-
$500 couldn't be touched for from
$4,000 to nearly $4,000. That Is what
Is meant by saying that automobiles are
cheap now and for that reason folks
aren't baked from buying them. man
will readily spend 81 900 where he couldn't
think OF spending $4,000 Then too he has
tho guarantee nowadays that his car will
be cheaper to maintain than II was, so
this element ts smaller
In these present times n good automo-
bile, one that Il man would not be
ashamed to drive anywhere. can he got
for almost any price he wants 10 pay.
There Is every grade OF real dr.vable,
serviccable automobile from S4i0 up to
about $4,000. Pretty nearly the top OF
luxury and service is reached when $4,000
Ia passed. speaking In broad general
way
There are cars TO be had around $500
that satisfy all the needs of many men OF
family. II man cares to go only little
above $1,000 he can got "A very elaborate
car indeed. There is a range OF selection
that IL wider than the man who hasn't
looked into the automobile question has
any idea Of 80 II is plain to see why
folks keep on buying cars. Tho invest
ment for each person isn't as vast by
half or more and there are more FOLKS
buying cars all the time.
These remarks apply TO the great gem
crafty of persons, because tho average
OF cars conforms 10 these conditions
There are Of course cars that cost moro
and are worth all they cost but they are
not made in the numbers that the lower
priced cars are produced, because they
must necessarily appeal TO a more limited
class. But people In general are finding
the automobile more a convenience and
less something to show. There are many
persons who use their cars 70 get aboH
in from place TO place not for touring
alone. In fact the day OF the man or his
family riding only at week ends is pretty
we'll played out.
The automobile as a necessity in Ameri-
can life was a topic brought up Mt tho
annual meeting OF the American Bankers
Association recently at Richmond, Va,
where for n wonder some kind words were
said for the motor car To be sure, Il
was Detroit man. William Livingstone,
president OF the Dime Savings Bank there,
who made the address on Twelve Years
of rAt f,nI Ippnu = No rVfr. 80
OF the Automobile Industry" He made
the statement that tho automobile was
among the necessities OF tho country and
no longer to be classed as luxury. II
may be that Legislators who received
vigorous protests from rural users OF cars
when they purposed TO put "A war tax
on automobiles got an idea too that the
car wasn't any city mans toy"
Among the interesting figures brought
out by the Detroit banker was tho fact
that there are 100000 cars in use in
this country. with an approximate figure
OF 100000 cars as production for tho
next rwelve months 70 be sold by 1880
automobile dealers. lie said there were
1880 garages. l,2S0 repair shops and
ESQ supply houses There are $50 listed
manufacturers OF motor vehicles. inolud-
ing 10 making gasoene pleasure cars,
245 gasolene commercial cars n cycle
cars. % motor fire apparatus, IS electric
pleasure cars and 20 electric commercial
vehicles
The address showed tina, exports last
year were s34.500. 600. which Of course Is
materially disturbed by the foreign war;
that Al per cent. of tho cost OF an auto
mobile Is in the labor that future markets
lie not alone in the farming districts ana
tho middle classes who can afford the low
maintenance cost OF the present day
models, but that the forolgn countries
must buy Il large number OF our cars In
the future.