Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1917-01-19

" 49, 49,
study may be excluded from the prospec-
tive buying class. There remain. then,
4 1000, 900 farm families who are possible
automobile buyers.
In the urban class, covered By IL 900
towns and cities OF more than five hun
dred population, there are about 5000, 900
home owners of which number only >
000. 900 now own ears. Accordingly,
there remain 5000. 600 prospective bnyer-
in this class, or a total actual unsold mar
ket. in both rural and urban classes, Of
ZOO, 900 possible automobile buyers.
The accepted average OF an automobile
j. about five years IN the hands of the
original owners: and as the man who
once owns Il ear will not thereafter be
without one, We must include the recorder
market which in the calendar wear Of 1911
will be about 60U. 600 this being twenty per
rent of the 5000. 600 now in use.
For the year 49,. therefore, the auto
mobile business Viii face a market 81
about 1000, 900 possible buyers. Not
more than l.600,G00 ears will be built in
the coming year, leaving q possible excess
market Of 5000, 600 buyers nj the begin
ming.
These figures are decidedly conserva-
tive because they take no consideration OF
I) any export outlet. (2D the people who
have or will have two or more machines,
t3l increased population, Cd increased
prosperity. 81 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 a motor ear, CO. the
business houses, retail and wholesale mer-
chants who use thousands of roadster,
for statesmen and many thousands more
OF delivery ears Irregular automobile chaS-
SIS with commercial BODY, (T taxicabs
and other cars for public hire.
Al important and noteworthy fact H.
vouched for By the editorial department
Of automobile Topics, a well known
trade authority, which has been making
a careful analysis OF the comparative ma
ture Ut automobile service. They state
that OF the 5000. 900 motor ears Of All
kinds in service in the United tates today.
they can cou~ervatively say from their in
ycSiigation that over one-half of the
mileage Of the 1900. 900 automobiles run
ming IN this country today one-halt or
! 500. 900, are used for business purposes.
This leaves only one and n half million
IN use for pleasure or social t%ransporta-
ton purposes.
In considering the 100000 automo-
biles in use today, which may legitimatelv
he classed d. pleasure cars an impor-
tant fact should be- borne in mind. namely:
the ~o-called pleasure car If today has "A
distinct economic use, il being only rru-
Sonable 10 deduce that the time and money
spent in motoring for pleasure or >ocia.
intercourse almost invariably takes the
place of some other form ol expenditure
If less actual economic value. Motoring
j. a pleasure that makes for broader
vision, Saner and more helpful diversions,
and a more sympathetic social life. a ma
ton without IL sane pleasures j. hopeless,
Therefore. Il IL far from logical 10 con
slider the so-calied pleasure car of today
az an added luxury.
Ii production increases at the average
rate maintained for the past five years
which j unlikely, due TO greater manufae-
turing problems and To inability Ut the
selling and di~tributive branches to keep
pace with greatly augmented manutactur-
ing volume-the point Of Saturation will
not be reached for five, six or even seven
years. And some Of the leaders in the
industry predict that il will he q matter
of ten or twelve years.
All signs point 10 a continued develop
ment for several years TO eome-for jus.
how long il l. difficult 10 say. but rs il
many other new fields, limitations and
curtailment OF expansion, arbitrarily pre-
dicted. are merely evidence OF u shorten
ed vision or nnfamiliarity with all of the
facts.
III u true that materials and labor are
more expensive and increasingly hard Ia
secure. This condition j. not serious, nor
j. il likely to be. The makers 81 medium
and high priced ears overcome the diff
Guilty ~ an advance in their selling price~.
The manufacturers Of low-priced ears
build in much greater quantities, are PR
iectcd ~ contracts until the end of the
automobile wear. July. 1917. and are able
10 absorb additional expense by spreading
IL OUT over a great number of units and
by increasing their manufacturing eff