Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-09-15
AUTO TRADE BEGINS.
BUYING MATERIAL.
Peak Expected in February
Price Cuts Expected by
JudiciouS Purchasing.
BY J. G. RONIE.
jaI pisnatCh 10 The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK. September 13.-i ne
vast buying power of the automobiie
industry, which is the mainstaN OF
scores of lines of production, Is nelnE
increased steadily and the peak of the
b,Iying movement which has now
started probably will not be reached
before next February.
The leading interest in the industry
and the smaller independents are buy
ing larger Quantities of steel, glass;
lumber. leather. rubber ana noiiier.
rouS metals than ever before, anu
purchases Of raw materials ny ihe
Ford company by no means stopped
at the same time that the automobile
aud truck plants closed down on pro.
fiuction of the old models and started
preparations for the new output.
Ford Buys Carefully.
Taking advantage Of the late sum
mer lull and the lack Of necessity for
immediately delivery. the Ford com
nany has bought carefully here ana
there for progressive delivery, giving
producers of raw materials and auto
mobile parts all over the country or
ders calculated to keep them busy lof
six months or more. At the same tlIne
the very cannN MANUFACTURER mas
gwen the raw material men no cause
for fearing that their profits VIII he
too high. lie knows his sources or sup
ply and his price curve charts NOR
oughly and buys most closely. The
firms he has patronized have been
glad to get the Ford business as a
means of keeping production forces
together and machinery going at
top speed, expecting to make their
profits from buyers of lesser Guanti-
ties or those who must have speedicr
deliveries.
Total purchases for the industry
for 1927 may be slightly less than
those of 1926, but officials connected
with the buying departments Of vari-
Gus companies say that materials con
tracted for this Fall and Winter Will
exceed in volume the amount pur-
chased in the corresponding period a
year ago.
'The purchasing agent in the auto
motive industry" said an executive
of General Motors today. must be
an engineer. chemist. an efficiency
expert, a salesman and many other
things. lie must keep step ahead
of the man he is buying from and
must know more about material,
quality and cost Of production. future
supply and distant price trends than
the man he is buying from. Backed
by this knowledge and immense buy
ing power. the automobile company
purchasing agent is able to demand
higher quality at ever decreasing
prices. The great buying power OF
the industry makes for vastly IN
creased production OF materla'S'
Standardization of quality, more et'
ficient handling and for lower prices.
which are reflected in the price or
finished automobiles to the hnai
owner"
Cuts i'm Raw Materials.
Recent and prospective cuts In
automobile prices. the purchasing eN-
perts say, are being brought about
through efficient quantity. production
of raw materials and the manufac'
tured products which go into a motor
car. rather than a tendency toward
cut-throat competition.
THE price trend of raw material Is
in our industry is downward" one
manufacturer said today. QUALITY
however. has been much improved
our testing plants are highly devel
oped. Our engineers are hard to please
Producers don't bother to send US
material about which there is the
slightest question:
While General Motors has FOLLOWED
different buying policy than Ford
who has developed or bought his owr
sources of supply, the buying depart
ment under James Lyman has become
one of the most efficient in the world
The personnel includes experts in al
materials used.
"Our policy is to let the supply mer
come to u.s. said an official. He
added that the ancient evil resulting
from gratuties being given by the
seller 10 persons believed to have in
fluence in the purchasing departments
has been practically wiped ou
throughout the industry