Evening star., 1926-10-10
CAR MARKET GLUT
IS DEEMED REMOTE
More Autos, More Replace
ments, Says Marmon's Gen.
eral Sales Director.

To the question. Has the automo-
bile industry reached it's maturity
II. II. Brooks. general sales director
OF the Marmon Motor Car Co, finds
an optimistic answer that presents an
angle OF the bOgey "saturation point
that Is sometimes overlooked.
OVerproductiOn. according to Mr..
brooks. instead OF being more likely
because Of the growing volume OF the
automotive industry, is less likely be-
cause the greater the number of cars
produced the more machines will have
to be replaced in the future. to say
nothing OF the many additions
Views of Brooks.
This is the way Mr.. Brooks views
the question:
There are certain things one al
ways breads. such as walking through
q graveyard at midnight. But once
in a graveyard at midnight fears
somehow have a way of vanishing,
and the situation is not at all uncom.
Portable. One merely has 10 adjust
himself to It,
I'VE may even have passed the sat
uration point without knowing it.
There are indications. according to
some economists, that the industry
has attained the replacement stage,
whatever that may mean. In other
words. new buyers are becoming
more and more difficult to find, but
less important. strange as 1t may
seem. In maintaining the present rate
OF output. And the replacement stage
may be equivalent to the saturation
point. Even at that, there is little
to fear and no reason whatever for
alarm as to what the future holds in
store.
I'm Its earliest stages, the industry
tapped a virgin field. Almost sound
less depths Of prospective buyers had
to be convinced only that the automo-
bile was practical. They had to be
sold on the 'horseless carriage
Difficult to Make Converts.
1.-THE SNOWFALL was a bit slow in
starting, but once under way. sales
multiplied almost In geOmetrical pro-
gression. Once convinced that the
automobile had been weaned from it's
experimental stage; that 1t was no
longer "a fad. novelty. or rich
mans toy, the great American public
began buying cars.
To-day almost everybody in the
United States either owns a car or
rents one. Ana Wnlle, because UI the
general popularity OF the motor car.
II has become difficult to make new
converts, the situation is by no means
so desperate az it might seem.
"Replacemcnts automatically keep
the factories at normal production.
The present rate Of output---a matter
OF some 100000 cars this year---can
be maintained. il Is indicated, as a
result of replacement sales alone.
even If new buyers are becoming
scarce.
This is comforting news to the in
dustry and should make for content,
ment and stability. The replacement
stage. II we have actually entered il.
should presage, if anything, an era
of prosperity. such as that enjoyed by
long-eStahlished industries.
100000 Cars Scrapped
1T should be remembered that
more than ! 100000 cars We're scrap.
ped last year. This would result in a
permanent demand for more than a
third of the annual production. Ex-
ports in 1925. to the value of $399,91
25s, took up Il per cent of the pro-
duction. AS European conditions be.
came more settled. the demand for
American made cars will increase,
and here. in the world market. is an
almost unlimited field