The Washington herald., 1916-02-28
MOTOR GOSSIP
BY Isl" GROGAN.
BY "sr, GRoGAN.

BY Isl" GROGAN.
The trend Of the motor car industry In
America toward sound. practical basis
OF production and selling, particularly
visible the past season, Is a purely nat
ural evolution brought about by the gen
eral use Of motor cars.
Perhaps no more clear exposition ha:
been given the place the automobile oc
cupies in present-day existence than that
| put forth by a great New York nationa
: bank in one OF its advertisements:
The automobile" this advertisement
| read, has long ceased to be merely ar
| expensive luxury, and is now an econ
onic necessity as well to the farmer as
to the department store or in any occu-
patton where expedition or economy can
make its use valuable.
BY means OF the automobile the out
| lying country is being brought closer t
| the big cities, and the values that are
created in this way more than Offset any
ordinary expense which the motor cal
may develop either in the way of daily
| upkeep, depreciation or wear and tear.
This bank would be glad to see every
| farmer and merchant in possession of ar
! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, for his use in his in
| dustry and second. for his pleasure; for
| there Is a weighty economic factor OF
efficiency in the social conditions that
surround labor"
So long as the use OF the motor car
was confined to comparative few, who
| found II a new toy and distraction, ex-
cessive prices, due largely to extrava-
gance in manufacture and marketing and
! to limited production facilities, were
possible. The self-propelled vehicle was a
new thing, must establish its own prece-
dents and those who could afford them
as luxuries, paid luxury prices for them.
! Gradually. however, this field proved
/ too constrained and there arose a demand
from less exclusive sources. To meet this
the cheap car was developed, and for
! some time two extremes, the very ex-
| pensive car and the comparatively very
cheap one, dominated the market. There
was no middle strain worthy OF consid-
Grafton.
In the last seven years this hiatus IN
price has been completely spanned by
the development OF several makes of
medium-priced automobiles of generally
satisfactory ability. But It was not until
the season just past that the producers
lot high-grade cars, the real ar1stocrats
OF the industry, realized the significance
OF this great central market and set
about to serve It.
To bring their product within reach Of
this market, herculean economies must
be effected. Five elements enter into the
/
are: Cost Of material, cost OF labor.
overhead expenses. dealers discount and
the manufacturers profit. Since the
early days OF the industry, heavy reduc-
tons in the latter two items have great
ly increased values. But further sacri-
fees were made in this direction, as far
as possible.
Savings In the buying of material
other than by means of increased buy
Ing facilities, were Impossible If tina
manufacturer would bring to this mar
ket car OF the same quality = he
had hitherto produced. The answer
lay in reducing the cost of labor through
increased and improved manu- ia cturing
facilities, and in reducing the overhead
expenses by enlarsiag his output. The
more the output could be, enlarged
practically the less portion Of overhead
expense each car woUli have 10 bear.
How well the leaders Of the indus
try adjusted themselves TO this new
condition is seen in the values offered
this season, when better cars are mar
keted at lower prices than ever before
The tendency towar1 sound, business
like practices in production and mar
ketns is general in scope, and almost
every great company shares it. True, a
very few concerns keep to the old idea
and strive to compete with the new while
handicapped by the old practice of
limited outputs AMI high prices; but
their market has narrowed 10 alarming
and almost vanishing proportions, and
the real prosperity of the season is en-
Joyed through the greater market
The general use of the automobile
has brought it to face conditions sim
liar to those faced by any other utilI-
tartan commodity, and as has always
been the case, the public which pro-
voked these conditions are the ones
benefited.