The New York herald., 1920-01-04
VIC. MARM0N
PREDICTS 1920
CAR SHORTAGE
Indianapolis Manufacturer Shows That
It Is Impossible to Catch
Up to Market
!. By w. c. MARMON, !.
President Nordyks & Marmon Co.

During the first yesr after American had
entered the war our national output OF
motor cars was cut almost In ha1f. and
during the latter part Of la1S. 70 aid wal
production. motor car maidng almost
reached tho zero point We are probably
100000 motor cars short OF tho demand
right now.
Therefore. m spite Of The fact that there
will be ZOO. 900 cars manufactured IN 1So0
there win be no surplus. Indeed. during
1890 American manufacturers cannot hope
to supply the demand In view OF q short
age that has been growing for three years
1t takes q million and a half new cars
each year to meet the normal demand.
The shortage which still exists and which
will possibly continue into 1a1 Is very real.
II It were merely for cars for pleasure
riding II would not be worth considering.
These car are wanted, however. for trans
|portat1on and are needed sadly By the
nation. It Is one Of the vital necessities
OF the country.
During the war. as every ono knows,
there was practically no extension OF
street cars, interurban and railroad trans.
portation- Our lines are run down. they
are inadequate. FOR they have not ex-
panded to meet industrial and city growth
demand Tho transportation problem OF
every big city has almost reached q crisis.
This condition is found also In the smaller
cities and towns. There is no need Of argu.
ment A little travel proves it Every one
knows It. The situation is acute
Were 1t not for the 5500,000 autono-
piles already In use and those which will
be built this year and the following years
1t would be mad to consider that the
railroads and the trolleys and street cars
could be expanded sufficiently to take
care OF our pressing transportation needs.
Save for the motor cars tho national crisis
would become calamity and threaten us
with many more economic troubles than
those which now confront us.
Looking at it from this standpoint and
considering the shortage Of considerably
more than two million cars, and the fact
that our transportation problems have
grown aggravatingly serious, the huge
output Of cars planned is absolutely es-
sential If Americas industry and COM
merce are to go unchecked. The number
or cars which we makers are manufacture
ing during the year might seem excessive
If these other factors were not considered.
There isn't any question but what the
American public will very easily consume
the large number of cars which our manu-
facturers are producing. Reports from
Marmon distributors in every portion of
the country have convinced us that we
could easily market twice as many cars
as we will be able to build during 1920.
and at that We are doubling our previous
production records. We believe that the
majority Of manufacturers who are in
creasing their output will find plenty of
customers and that as a result the trans
portation problems OF the country will be
better taken care of at the end of this
year than they have been for several
years The fact that more than a billion
dollars has been appropriated by the ma
tion and the States for road construction
and upkeep clearly proves that motor car
transportation Is assuming colossal pro-
portions.
During the gasless Sundays Of wartime
we found how great a transportation
factor are passenger cars Had these
days been weekdays we should have felt
the pinch a great deal more A week
of gasless days In a city like New York
or Chicago would be perilous and any ex-
tended time would bring famine and pesti-
lence, so dependent are we on motor cars.