Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1914-10-10
The Motor Car Industry

and the small studebaker and Buick
have built up their business because
there was demand for the cheap
car. This has been especially true Of
the Ford, which was the first cheap
automobile made that was real auto
mobile, The result has been that they
are expecting to turn out 100000 cars
tho present year.
This movement, or the development
of this industry, is along the lines of
evolution. All business is built up in
response to a demand, otherwise it
would not be a staple business. Prob
ably no one thing has caused as much
study and thought as the question of
rapid individual transportation. 1t
was this that built the bicycle, then
the safety and then the automobile,
but after the automobile had been me-
chanically perfected the tendency in
price was up instead of down, so that
the poor man or woman was little bet
ter off than before until the cheap
automobile came into use. This is the
feature that creates the demand for a
still cheaper ear and that will build up
the cycle car industry even faster, in
the opinion Of most authorities, than
the automobile business itself has been
built up. The cycle car business will
in no way affect the general auto
mobile business-it is a new branch Of
tho industry.
The fact that there is demand,
and an enormous demand for cycle
cars, is fully borne out by the state
ment that there are already nearly
thirty factories in tho East, all Of them
being offered all Of the business they
want, and ono Of the latest in the first
four months has sold 5000 cars. These
little cars sell in the East Mt $3.50,
and up until tho establishment Of the
Ebert Motor Car Company in Seattle
there have been no factories on the
Pacific Coast, The new company is
building a car that sells for $205, and
is receiving inquiries for cars and for
agencies from such widespread sources
and Of such n character that they are
firm in the belief that they arc going
to be offered tremendous volume Of
business.
The geographical position should give
the local factory first call on tho
business Of the far East, much Of which
has heretofore been handled in Europe,
and much Of which Is now business.
Naturally tho European manufacturers
arc at the present time unable to de-
liver the goods, and there arc very
few Of them that manufacture narrow
tread cars.
The narrow tread car seems 10 be
absolutely essential for the Chinese and
Japanese trade, principally because
they must follow narrow trails, The
car must be cheap in first cost, low in
upkcop, simple in construction and have
sufficient power to go anywhere there
ia fair road.
There does not seem TO bo any limit
to tho business that can be built up by
factory on this coast. Many author.
itics are firm in the belief that the
light car business will within five
yoars equal tho present volume Of the
entire industry.
This does not seem unreasonable
when we take into consideration the
fact that there arc over 1O0,00O,0OO
people undor tho American flag Ger.
tainly not all Of them could own even
a cheap automobile, but that many
people will count for more than 20,
\ 100000 families, and surely ono out Of
each five families could afford a mo.
tor car that only costs 5000 md can
bo operated at an expense no greater
than street car fare, We have then
five million possible customers, or moro
than lhreo times as many az there arc
motor cars Of all descriptions now in
use. Figuring on a basis Of $500 per
car we come back TO tho figures fore.
caslod In tho Automobile Trade Jour.
nal.