Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1917-07-18
The AUTOMOBILES OF
THE UNITED STATES
1t is Estimated That There Are g.
100000 Motor Vehicles in
Use in This Country Now.
WHOLE OF EUROPE HAS
ONLY 1875 MOTORS
No Other Country in World Possesses
Motor Vehicle Buying PowH" as
the Initc.l States.

Boston, July 16.-Just now the
motor vehicle ind stry Of the United
States is primal rilY Interested in what
! its future is 20 be during the period
of the war. .loct of 'te manufa etur-
ers profess to believe that they are
at the beginning CT the biggest bust
ness they ever have had, that with
the demands of the United States
government added to the buying for
private use the factories will be un-
able to keep pace with the call for
vehicles of all sorts and sizes. The
only drawback to this favorable out
look is the question Of securing nd
teriais in sufficiently large quanti-
ties.
Whit, the war period most lmne-
diate:y concerts the builders. they
are sIffi ;'ently foresigh.e. 10 .cok
beyorI to the time wte1 the world
shall be at peace aud when the lead
ing motor manufacturing nations
will be seeking again the foreign
markets. Upon this situation much
enlightenment of rosy hue is thrown
by report that has just been issued
by the foreign trade department Of
the National Association of Manufac-
turers. In this report, made up with
great care and from every avai,a ole
source of information, an attempt hN
been made to show what is the pas
senger car market of the world un-
der normal conditions.
Some Startling Figures.
The compilation reveals some
startling figures. Perhaps the most
remarkable is the deduction that il
all the other countries of the world
were able to buy motor vehicles at
the same rate the people of the Unit
ed States buys them, there would be
a market in the world outside the
United States for 56,2O1,213 motor
cars. Compared with the 4,219, 246
cars now in use in the entire world,
this indicates a wonderful oportuni-
ty for the sale of cars and trucks. 1t
is admitted, however, that this fig
ure of over 50,00O,000 should not
be taken seriously. No other country
in the word possesses the motor We
hicle buying power or inclination OF
the United States; many countries,
which have very large populations
have not the roads upon which mo-
tor vehicles can be operated as they
are in the United States.
In this country there is one auto
mobile to approximately every THIRTY
people, one to every sixth family
basing the calculation upon the 81
500, 900 vehicles in use Jan. l, 1917
and upon the total population OF
| I1O3,0O0,O00. The whole of Europe
has only 437.55S motor vehicles,
Canada and North America outside
the United States, 11S,oS6; South
America, 39,1SS; al Asia, 27,75S,
and al Africa, PATS. 1t borders
on absurdity, therefore, to attribute
to Europe buying power Of 17,5sS'-
500 and to Asia 2S,S76,30O.
Market for 3.61.,51O Cars.
A far more valuable contribution
TO the industry made in the report IS
an estimate of the actual potentiai
market of parts of the world outside
of the United States under norman
commercial conditions. In making
this estimate many factors have been
taken into consideration. The calcu-
lation gives the figures 3,6l7,21O as
the market for cars outside tnls
country.