Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-27
us. AUTOMAKERS
INVADING CANADA
Three American Firms Have
Already Established Plants
in Dominion.
BY DAVID J. WILKIE,
AaAnniaAnh prass star Writer.

wall is too high, build within the wall"
long has been the automobile 1nduStrys
solution of difficulties encounte ed in its
export business. Apparently the wall
recently raised by the Canadian govern
ment in curtailing the discount allowed
on cars entered for duty Is to prove no
exception.
Already three of the American COM
panieS that heretofore have operated in
Canada on a purely export basis have
announced plans for the construction
of their cars within the Dominion and
others are expected to follow suit. The
companies that have definitely an
nounced such plans are the Nash, which
has perfected an arrangement with Du-
rant of Canada; the Hupp Motor Cor
poration, which plans an assembly plant
at Windsor, and the REQ Motor Car Co.,
which will open plant at Toronto.
Companies Act Quickly.
It was only a little more than a
month ago that the order in council
was issued from Ottawa that American
motor car manufacturers would have to
pay duty on more nearly the full list
price Of their product rather than on a
figure 80 per cent off list. The i'm
portance Of the Canadian field to the
American automobile industry Is evil
denced by the celebrity with which the
exporting companies have moved to
meet the order in council.
Aside from the Canadian markSa
itself, however, there is the perhaps
more important fact that companies
with Canadian charters will have a dis
tinct advantage in dealing with the
other units Of the British Empire. 1t
Is for this reason that other exporting
companies are expected to make plant
investments across the border. Plans
of Graham Paige, Hudson, Hupmobile
and others still are somewhat uncer-
tain, but the need of competitive equal
tty with other American makers in Can
ada is known to be under careful con-
siderationS.
Kirke Neal, president of the Equitable
& Central Trust Co. Of Detroit, in q
statement today regarding the automo-
bile and the automotive parts and &C
ceSsorieS industries, said that the long
term outlook is more favorable than
1t has been at any time within the last
year and a half. Utilizing a February
average for the last five years, Mr.. Neal
said that preliminary figures on auto
mobile registrations for last month in
dictate that buying was 80 per cent Of
normal. The parts and accessories in
dustry, he said, has been showing con-
sistent gains of approximately 10 per
cent a month since last Fall.
Business Still SubnormaI.
Comparison of the percentage of
normal Of automobile registrations in
November, December, January and
February" Mr.. Neal said, indicates a
striking comeback, even though busi-
ness still is subnormal. In November,
registrations of new cars in the United
States were only As per cent of the
flve-year average for that month; De-
cember saw the percentage mount to
so; January carried 1t to Sc per cent,
and February took 1t on to 30 per
cent"
If there were no other developments
In the industry that augured well for
the continued steady return to normal,
the fact that dealers stocks have been
kept at q comparatively low level
throughout the first quarter Of the year
would, in itself, justify all the opti-
mism that is felt in manufacturing cir
cles. It has been authoritatiyely esti-
mated that retailers now hold less than
SOC, 900 cars. The significance OF the
figures lies in the fact that they show
variation from the number Of units on
hand at the beginning Of the year, in
dicating that controlled" production
has been successfully established.
Dealers Stocks Low.
Al blSTC were no JULIET uCVCkOpA1Ac14tS
In the industry that augured well for
the continued steady return to normal,
the fact that dealers stocks have been
kept at a comparatively low level
throughout the first quarter OF the
year would In itself justify all the OPP
timism that is felt in manufacturing
circles. 1t has been authoritatively
estimated that retailers now hold less
than 800 900 cars. The significance Of
IT, Aca,rar 1fae In fha fart fhaU ahOU
little variation from the number Of
units on hand at the beginning OF
the year, indicating that controlled
production has been successfully estab-
lished.
The placing of numerous large or
ders for materials and parts further
confirms the feeling expressed In. many
quarters that the industry's executives
look for no interruption in the steady
improvement that began with the first
of the year. While these orders have
been somewhat "Spotty," they are OF
sufficient size to indicate tendency
of the industry to get away from the
"hand-to-mouth" policy in this respect.
Periodically there appears a move
ment to bring about the systematic
scrapping of wornout cars. While tnou-
sands of vehicles are "Scrapped" eacn
year by junk dealers, concerted ef-
fort by the industry as q whole to take
up the reclamation of vehicles that
have outlived their usefulness stu Is
lacking. The Ford Motor Co. Is the
exception. Since it began, more than e
year ago, to accept from its dealers old
cars of various makes as part payment
on new vehicles, something In excess OF
SC, 900 cars have been salvaged at the
Rouge plant Of the company here.
These have yielded more than n 1000
tons of steel besides a large quantity OF
glass and other materials.
Schwartz's Proposal.
The latest suggestion for the Scrapping
of obsolete or WORKOUT cars comes from
BENJAMIN Schwartz, director general of
the Institute Of Scrap Iron and Steel.
He would have the industry cooperate
with his organization to junk 5000, 900
cars each year. His proposal, he said,
is based upon considerations Of public
safety and better utilization Of the raw
materials now wasted by haphaEard
abandonment Of old cars.