The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1917-08-18
BUY CARS
Automobile Market Divided Into
Two Broad Fields.
CLEAR ANALYSIS OF SUBJECT
Found From Investigation That One
Half of Mileage of 100000 Cars
Is Employed Solely for Bust
ness Purposes.

So much has been written relative
to the development Of the motor car
industry and so many prophecies have
been ventured without proper consid-
grafton Of vital and controlling factors.
that clear and simple analysis OF
the subject may serve to dissipate
much of the unfounded conjecture.
THE automobile market is divided
into two broad fields. First the rural
class, which includes all persons en-
gagged in farming and others in vari-
GUS businesses who live in towns OF
less than five hundred population. Sec
ond, the urban class, which comprises
all people in any but farming pursuits,
who live in towns of five hundred or
more population.
Possible Automobile Buyers.
In the rural or farming market,
there are 6,500000 families. One mil
lion of these now own motor cars and
one and one-half millions are poor, IL
Mterate, who for the purpose of this
study may be excluded from the pros
,pective class. There remains, then,
100000 farm families who are posi-
BILE automobile buyers.
In the urban class, covered by 11,6OO
towns and cities Of more than five
hundred population, there are about
100000 home owners of which num-
Der only 100000 now own cars. Ac-
cordingly, there remain 100000 pros
pective buyers in this class, or total
actual unsold market, in both rural
and urban classes, of 100000 possible
automobile buyers.
The accepted average life of an au-
tomobile is about five years in the
hands Of the original owners; and as
the man who once owns car will not
thereafter be without one, we must
include the recorder market which in
the calendar year of 1917 will be about
100000, this being 20 per cent of the
100000 now In use.
Buyers in 1918.
For the year 1917, therefore, the au-
tomobiIe business will face market
of about 100000 possible buyers. Not
more than 100000 cars will be built
in the coming year, leaving possible
excess market of 100000 buyers at
the beginning of 1918.
These figures are decidedly conserv-
alive because they take no consid-
Grafton of az any export outlet, (2)
the people who have or will have two
or more machines, (3) increased popu-
lation, (4) increased prosperity, (5) a
million or more town and city families
who do not own the homes in which
they live but are well able to buy and
maintain motor car, (6) the busl-
ness houses, retail and wholesale mer-
chants who use thousands of roadsters
for statesmen, and many thousands
more of delivery cars Irregular auto
mobile chassis with commercial body,
"a taxicabs and other cars for public
hire.
An important and noteworthy fact
is youched for by the editorial depart
ment of Automobile Topics, a we'll
known trade authority which has been
making a careful analysis of the com
barative nature of automobile service.
They state that of the 100000 motor
cars Of all kinds in service in the Unit
ed States today, they can conserva-
lively say from their investigation that
over one.half of the mileage Of the 81
100000 cars is used for business pur-
noses