Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-27
SECRECY SHROUDS
MOTOR WAR PLANS
Ford, General Motors and
Independents Prepare as
Fight Looms.
By the Associated Press.

| BY the Associated Press.
DETROIT. March 26.-As the
period approaches when the Ions
rumored war within the motor indus
| try is expected to be brought into thf
open, leaders in the industry continue
to observe a tight Tipped silence re
specting their plans.
In the meantime persons affected
| by the ebb and flow of the market
/ speculate in all directions regarding
the next move of the principals.
OF the three prime factors in the
rumored war--the Ford organization
the General Motors Corporation an6
the MISREPRESENTATION only the lat
ter has there come a statement upor
which might be placed the stamp OF
officiality.
William G.. Durant, a manufactures
in the independent field which in
cludes concerns affiliated neither with
the Ford organization nor the General
Motors, announced that he shortly
will reveal plans for move that will
rival anything in his already sen.
sationaI career within the motor in
dustry.
Speculation on Durant
Speculation regarding Durant' s
plans is rife, but the most persistent
rumor is that he will withdraw from
Wall Street and again take up an
active role in the manufacturing end
of the automobile business. Rumor
has 1t he plans a new low priced car
the product of a combine on which he
is reported to have been working for
more than year. Whether the re-
ported combine contemplates merger
of the four factories in which Durant
is now interested-the Flint, Durant
Star and Locomobile-with other in.
dependent companies, is a matter of
much speculation. One report has il
the Continental Motors along with a
number of other companies thus far
not mentioned in published reports,
will be included in the merger if 1t is
brought about.
Neither the Ford organization nor
the General Motors executives com.
mented regarding Durant's contem
plated move. While number Of in,
dependent producers have pleaded
ignorance of the former General
Motors executives plans, some have
given it as their opinion no large
mergers among independents are i'm.
pending.
OF the Ford Co.'S plans for. the
rumored war, no official statement
has been issued. Hosts of financial
writer's have attempted vainly peek
at the trick bag of the enigmatic
Ford. But Ford is reported to keep
his plans locked in his own brain
and thus far he has given out no in
formation regarding them for public
consumption.
New FOrds Rumored
Of tho nyYoaro,,c ,.1ops o4%~ib,,@a5
to the Ford Co., one which is given
more than ordinary credence is that
it soon will announce a revised price
schedule on the light car it now has
on the market, this to be followed
later by the introduction of a new
four.cylindered machine, with an all
cooled motor and changed trans
mission. The new car, it is reported
will be in the lower-priced class
Within a few months, according &c
these reports. Ford viii be on the open
market with second new car, this
an eight-cylindered machine of the
middle-priced variety.
The General Motors Corporation
third factor In the rumored war for
supremacy, has been equally reticent
regarding plans. Indications, how.
ever, are that the corporation will
General Motors now has a total OF
seven passenger machines on the
market and a host of trucks and ac.
cessories. It's light car, the Chevrolet,
at present, is the leading seller in its
field, which previously was dominated
by Ford.
General Motors is understood to
take the position that the phenomenal
success of their product was not
caused by added demand, but on the
contrary was due to the process of
cutting in" on their competitors
business.
RESPECTING the relative positions of
the three principal groups only the
stratus Of the Ford organization is not
a matter Of public record.
Hinge Reserve Reported.
BY reason of the tremendous sale of
it's products heretofore, however, the
company is conceded to be solidly in
trenched. The company is owned
completely by the Ford family and its
stock is not listed on the open
market.
Ford is reported to have been ST.
lently retrenching for the past year
and half and to have piled up an
enormous cash reserve No production
figures have been issued during that
time and this fact had led to the re.
port that the plants were being alter.
ed for the installation of new line Of
machinery for the production of new
types of cars. The plants have been
operating on a part-time basis during
this reported alteration.
Although some of the independent