Evening star., 1926-10-03
BIG PROFITS MAY DRAW
NEW AUTOS INTO FIELD
Outsiders May Plunge in Hope of Sharing Ricl,
Rewards Novelty Car Has Chance to Reap
Profit Harvest in Buying Wave.

a year at book profit OF about $751;
a car. For the next BOOM" which
Is expected in about 1928. this or
ganization is pictured as being able
to dispose OF 500, 900 units annually.
with earnings running to around
$225 900. 900. This fascinates the
financial gambler and promoter. II
even awakens the practical business
man.
The Packard Co. earned $13.529.64O
in nine months ending May 81. 1926.
This was $l,50O,000 more than for the
entire year of 1925. which was a
| record-breaker for the company.
Some Records Impressive.
Records Of successful companies
are astonishing. They reflect. not
| merely prosperity. but the particular
lucrativeness of we'll managed auto
motive business. The success OF u
number OF companies in putting their
cars over this year has demonstrated
that the failure of many OF the
pioneers and of the later entrants I'm
the automotive field was largely II
matter OF bad policy. At present
| there is an actual demand for more
makes of cars, for as more persons
buy, new and varied tastes come TO
the fore. The newcomers first will Sc
leCt their particular field. if they are
| wise. and bend every effort toward
filing it.
Despite enormous production strides
made by some of the companies this
year, others have stood still and few
have lost ground In every case, the
reason has been evident. One manu-
facturer hedged on fOurwheel brakes
and borrowed another car makers
policy. This cost him quite a few mil
lions. Another spends most OF his
time thinking up what he considers
clever advertisements and negleCtS
the more important features of the
business. Still another did not change
into striking colors in time to reap
fair share of the increased business.
But all these companies are doing
well. Some actually are making
greater profits than ever before simply
by holding a reasonable share of theiv
trade and effeCtinG management econo
mics.
That is what attracts the outsider
II am aware of the mistakes manu-
facturers make and will avoid them
he promises himself.
Body Lines May Be Bad.
1t interests him particularly to note
that the American car as a whole is
| about to enter period of poor body
| lines. 1t happens every so often that
in an effort to improve the lines of
cars designers spoil them. This is
seen in womens clothing. which peri
odically becomes extreme and unat
| tractive. The tendency of the moment
| is to make the front and rears of cars
a little lower than the centerS. When
this trend becomes n little more pro
nounced and the Nation awakens to
| the fact that cars are not as good
looking as they were in 1925 the new
conner with a nose for the fact will
crash in upon the automotive business
| like a skyrocket.
! Any profitable business attracts
| newcomers. Perhaps the single fly i'll
the ointment is the dealer problem.
Selling cars is not as profitable as
making them. More and more bust
ness men have made up their minds
they do not want to sell automobiles.
1t will take a genuine depression to
scare the rest of the manufacturers
and the newcomers out of the auto
mobile manufacturing game. Not
until then, it is predicted, will the
| looked-for decrease in the ranks ma
| teria1iZe.