San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-23
Automobile Industry Lead
ers Scout Over-produc-
ton Rumor.
BUSINESS is GOOD
Say Washington Probes
Will Not Hurt Sale
of Machines.
BY j. G. ROYLE.

New York. March 22.-The auto.
mobile industry has been surrounded
during the last few days by a swirl
ing flood of rumors regarding the pos
slbility that Over-production is taking
place, that factory curtailments are
IN prospect, and that the market is az.
rroaching saturation. A careful sur
vcy of conditions in the great auto
mobile centers failed today to show
that these rum0rs have a solid basis.
AT least they have failed to impress
executives of leading manufacturing
companies.
Officials Of the Ford Motor Com
pany simply laugh at the reports and
IN answer to them. quote figures show
ing that Ford dealers are taking cars
us fast as factories can turn them out.
General Motors executives take almost
the same position. They look upon a
check to demand as merely temporary
and refuse to take alarm. The big
Willys-Overland plant at Toledo aud
the huge Studebaker Company fac
tories are running at capacity and in
both cases the companies have great
or volume of untitled orders on their
books today than they had at this
time last year.
Many Cars Sold.
General Motors sold more than So
600 cars in February compared with
6O,505 in January and 50, 427 in Feb
ruary. 1923. Freight bills for incom-
ing materials for the subsidiaries of
the big companies are running even
heavier than for last year when the
Odds Motor works alone paid out to
the railroads S42S.00O for freight on
raw and semi-finished materials.
Distributors in expressing their
views of the situation. explain that
automobiles do not move from dealers
to the public in the same volume in
cold weather that is reached in mild
weather. Dealers undoubtedly have
large stocks on hand. but this is a
condition which they have always de.
sired in March. Indeed. they have
complained bitterly in previous years
when their stocks were small at this
time of year. If March weather had
been balmy instead of cold. the cars
in dealers hands probably would
have passed quickly to purchasers.
Under the circumstances, the Their.
mometer has had a more potent effect
on the situation than any approach to
saturation of the market. Distrbu-
dealers will have to keep their money
invested in cars until spring weather
arrives.
reproduction is a piling up proc
ess. No industrial mechanism in an
Industry can achieve it in a single
month. If there was no over-projuc-
ton in February and it is not charged
that there was. manufacturers take
the stand that over-production cannot
have been achieved in the last three
weeks. 1t is possible. some state, that
the current rate of production may be
too high to be extended over the en-
tire year but that still remains to be
proved. At least, reports of Other in
dustries show no signs of slackening
or of a general over-production of
goods. nor do they show any signs Of
a drop in the potential power o. the
public to consume goods.
Blames Cold Weather.
The president of one large auto
mobile company said today:
"Our field investigations in the last
As hours have satisfied us that while
the investigation at Washington nav
excite the stock market, it is not
going to prevent people who want auto
mobiles from buying them. The whole
thing at present is simply case OF
unexpected cold weather causing a
temporary interruption in the PROGRESS
of cars from manufacturer to dealer.
+. s. Jordan of Cleveland, pres;-
dent of Jordan Motor Car Company,
says there will be no initiation of 5us,.
ness this year. He believes that the
number of cars built will Ac undei
100000 and bases this assertion on
the fact that he expects dealers "a
have difficulty in handling second
hand cars rather than on the inability
or lack of desire of the public to alb
sorb new machines. Some automobile
accessory manufacturers in the Cleve'
land district are finding it necessary
to add to their plant capacity.
Industrial employment in Detroit
which gives an accurate reflection 81
activity in automobile manufacture
has risen to n total of 241 ,263. This
compared with 21S.260 for the CORE
spending week of last year and with
a high point for all time of 242 ,3331
reached February 2. this year.