Evening star., 1932-04-16
AUTO TRADE LOOKS
FOR RISING OUTPUT
Accumulation of Buying Or
derS Expected to Increase
Schedules.
BY DAVID J. WILKIE.

DETROIT, April 16-With a slowly
mounting accumulation of buying
orders, the automobile industry looks
for an expansion in output shortly to
speed up assembly lines that have been
working on restricted schedules for
many months.
Although the Ford Motor Company
announced specifications and prices for
its new models some time ago, de-
liverieS so far have been confined
mainly to dealers, and many of these
still have only one or two Of the va
rlety of models to be manufactured.
The accumulation Of orders for new
Fords is understood to exceed 300 900
vehicles.
Other makers in the low-price field
also report encouraging public response
10 the selling campaign that was initi-
ated with the presentation of the new
cars.
Ford Estimate.
The Ford Company has made no off,
cial announcement of its production
plans other than to say that when
activities are in full swing it is hoped
to produce around 5000 cars daily.
More than half the working force at
the Ford plant which has been on a
three-day week basis for about two
years has been placed on a five-day
week, although some others have been
temporarily laid off.
The progress of the sales drive ap-
parently has been about as the trade
expected, and the fact that production
lines were not Immediately put into
nigh gear Is only in keeping with the
lndustry'S determination to balance
output with actual demand.
Manufacturers generally are not
making exaggerated claims for what
they expect of the present sales cam
palgn. They expect 1t to release an
accumulation Of buying orders, and
they hope for turn in general buSi-
ness conditions that will bring a pro-
duction and sales volume of 3,000,O00
units before the end of the current
year. At the very least they expect the
activities of the selling division of the
industry to give sufficient impetus to
the factories to keep them going strong
well into the Summer months.
The Michigan Manufacturer and
Financial Record. discussing the delay
IN deliveries of the new Ford cars to
consumers says:
"Fords problem at the moment seems
to be in speeding up production of the
new Weight. 1t is understood that
foundry casting problems involved in
the production of the motor block in a
single unit, have caused the delay in
reaching normal output. 1t is quite
definitely indicated, however, that the
River Rouge and assembly plants in
other cities will have reached a produc-
ton of 1000 cars of both types during
the April l8 work week"
Leaders of the industry are continuing
a careful watch on the public reaction
to recent price reductions. Not a few
have reiterated their conviction that
instead Of further reductions. which
some quarters have predicted will result
from price war" in the low-price
field, an increase in the price of most
motor cars is likely.
Price Ranges Lower.
Prices are lower than they ever have
been in the industry's history. No
secret has been made of the fact manu-
facturers reduced prices in an effort to
get buying movement started. One
leading authority in the industry, dis
cussing price trends, remarked:
Those of the buying public, who are
waiting for better bargains are goingto
be disappointed. The industry offered
todays bargains to get people buying in
volume. If the public doesn't respond.
prices are going up, and the automobile
industry isn't going to wait much longer.
The trend is toward higher prices now.
"A better bargain is not possible with
any automobile today unless the sales
man, the distributor, the dealer, or the
factory takes loss. Prosperity cannot
come back as long as goods are sold at
q lnss -