, 1923-05-31
ONE OUT OF every
Eight HAS AUTO
PRESIDENT OF NASH MOTOR COMPANY
SAYS VOLUME PRODUCTION
LOWERED PRICE

10 Guo llllS
of a very interesting article which
recently appeared in the automobile
section OF the Sunday New York
American.
When we say that one out of ever
eight persons in the United States
owns an automobile we mean thai
there are over 100000 owners O
motor vehicles or. counting three t.
the family, that over 10000 O(
persons ride on gasoline alley"
A very plausible reason for thi.
remarkable record of automobile
ownership is given in an article writ
ten by C. w. Nash, president of tn,
Nash Motors Company, and through
the kindness of the Service Aut,
Supply Company. local agents TO,
the Nash cars, we are able to pub
fish, in part at least. the article Mr.
Nash has written on his subject.
The president of the Nash Motto,
Company states that the universe
use or motor vehicles in the United
States is due to the low prices Of tn,
various machines, made possible b,
volume production and traces thu
development of the automobile in
dustry saying:
Go into the parks or out on the
country highways any fine day In
the Spring, Summer or early Fal,
and you will see a happy picture oil
modern lie In America. Every
where you will find car wne with
their families and their well packed
lunch baskets off for a day Of health.
ful pleasure. This was not possible
only a four paoro 400 T. -,
days of the automobile.
Production Of motor cars in those
days was on a very small scale,
Costs on a low production basis are
relatively high, so cars then were
expensive and few could afford to
own them. The problem at that
time was one Of engineering. At
first IT was a question whether an
automobile could be built to run
satisfactorily. Designs in construc,
.tion appeared and disappeared with
great regularity and rapidity but
finally the basic principles were mas
tered and 1t was conceded that the
motor a provided a sound and de-
pendable lean of transportation.
Then came refinement and volume
Those makers, qualified
~ '"ihiiiS " MANUFACTURE Ou u
quantity basis and financially able
to equip large plants, soon placed
motor car within reach OF
of thousands and finally
of buyers. Many of who
entered the field fell by the wayside
and the field of volume manufact-
urers has narrowed to a point where
80 per cent of all cars built in this
today are produced by Just
. few companies.
A great many people. unfamiliar
with manufacturing principles, are
not aware of how the public benefits
by volume production Of motor cars
produce any article or commodity
In volume on a basis that Is sound
a tremendous saving in the
cost per unit. This benefits the
automobile buyer, because these saw
|ngs all are reflected in the lower list
price OF the finished car.
But aside from the actual saving
IN dollars and cents, volume produc-
lion, when properly followed, means
closer inspection Of each operation,
exactly suited to the re-
puirements OF the al and, in short,
q better product than 1t would be
possible to produce we're II built in
small quantities. Inspection Of op-
and materials and frequent
are one OF the most vital ele-
that enter into the manufact-
ure OF a al that Is good. With vol
ume production the costs OF these
and tests are spread
v g a great number of units, thus
the cost per unit to a neg
item, whereas with limited
production the cost per unit is rela-
lively high.
To illustrate this point. a manu-
facturer who is building in volume
make a die costing. say. $4,000
and spread this cost owe $4,000 or
10000 automobiles at very slight
cost per car. whereas this would
prove an expensive item to q maker
whose volume was small. The Sec
ond manufacturer would find It nee
essary to have this die made by some
outside concern. pay them actual
cost for the operation plus their
charge. and on top OF this
the proht to which they believed
they were entitled.
While the making OF a die Ii but
item. let us see how this opera
ton works out on a volume pro.
plant. The die Is made In
that same plant without any In
rease on overhead cost. no middle
man proht end then. II stated
the pro rata cost is spread
n large number OF cars, Tho
volume builder has his WI foundry.
his own forge shop. and. in fact. Al
IL the case with us. our own depart
for the building Of SO per cent
Of all parts that go into our cars.
including the making OF our W
roller bearings.
As all business men know. there
are in a manufacturing plant certain
items Of fixed expense known under
the general term Overhead. Whe-
ther n manufacturer IL building g.
900 cars n year or $4,000 cara In the
same period he has to have n SUI
perintendent. sR)es manager. fore
man, etc. One foreman can SUPER