Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-25
INDUSTRY IS HELD
|. ON SOUNDER BASIS
1880 Recession Considered
Necessary for Future Wei
fare of Business.
BY H. J. KLINGLER,

'ManABcf
Chevrolet Motor Co.
Despite the curtailed sales and pro-
duction programs Of automotive manu-
facturers last year the progressive COM
panies Of the industry today are on a
sounder, saner and healthier basis than
at this same time in 1880.
The lull in buying forced certain
internal readjustments which will react
to the future welfare of the entire in
dustry. The year of recession served
a useful function in our economic
scheme in wedding out unhealthy con-
ditioRs which inevitably develop during
the flush Of abnormal prosperity.
Departments Pared.
In such stringent times as We have
become overd:velopsd are pared to
their proper proportions, processes and
methods which in boom years have no
chance to prove their intrinsic worth,
show UP in their proper light, and
products and policies which have no
proper place in industry have to yield
to better products, rightly priced and
properly distributed.
American business reveals almost hu-
man traits in its tendency every so
many years to get sick. It needs its
periods of enforced idleneSS and its sur
gical operations to cut out unSound and
unhealthy developments. We are def
nitely past the period Of business ILL
ness, and are now in the convalescent
stage. Slowly but surely we are pro-
crossing to a healthy, steady. normsl
growth which will eclipse anything the
Industrial world has yet seen.
The 1880 recession vas necessary.
Values we're grossly inflated. Money
was at rates Almost proh'bitive fog con-
structive business. Buying was on a
condition would only have heightened
the time necessary for recovery.
Just as the manufacturer Is on a
sounder basis by reason of the 1880 re-
ceSsion, so is the dealer. He has a more
efficient organization and a more elastic
one, for he knows now by experience
how to adapt his establishment to con-
ditions, how to make each department
contribute its share OF volume.
Deferred Buyers.
The normal volume of new car bust
ness in sight for 1881 will be swelled
by the hundreds of thousands of pur-
chases deferred from 1880. To this
backlog of orders there will be added
those of people who are buying their
first new car, and that steady annual
5000, 000-car market, which alone is
sufficient to enable the stable companies
to operate at profit. This steady
market represents requirements, null
tiple car families and those young peo-
ple-more than 100000 annually-whc
are just advancing to the age of car
ownership.
A further expanding market exists in
the commercial field. In this category
come trucks and fleet sales, or sales OF
cars in quantity to business organiza-
tons for commercial use. The grow
ing use of trucks has been so rapid that
this phase of our business accounts for
a constantly growing proportion of each
years output, and has made advisable
the purchase of our own commercial
body plant and the operation at zone
points of so assembly branches to meet
Adequately the charging development
of this field.
Unusually good business will be the
reward in 1881 for the stable manu-
facturer with the right product rightly
priced ar d properly distributed.