Evening star., 1933-04-16
FORECASTS DECREE
HIGHER 1888 SALES
Auto Industry Production
Predicted to Top 1882
Output.
Special Dispatch to The star.

DETROIT, April 15-f current fore
casts are to be accepted, production In
T, the automobile industry this year will
most assuredly top the 1892 output.
Ever since the beginning OF the
Michigan bank holiday Detroit manu-
ness horizon, trying accurately to gauge
the prospects for the remainder OF the
year. It took few weeks to reach .
reasonable basis for prophecy. consider
ing that economic Developments came
! with unrepressed speed. The situation
in other parts of the country appears,
| however, to have cleared sufnciently
now for the statisticians to paint their
picture.
See Favorable Factor.
Looking first at the figures for the
| opening quarter, members Of the In
dustry discover the favorable factor
that in the midst of the Nations bank
ing troubles, sales were only slightly be-
low the 1892 mark. It Is idle, OF course,
to speculate on what might have hap
pened to sales under the Impetus Of the
good showing made In January, If the
| banking storm had not descended.
Sufficient to say that automobile
] manufacturers took a rather glum atti-
tude toward the immediate future As
| March rolled around Plans for pro-
duction were adopted with much eau
| ton. Consider the surprise Of sales
managers and production heads alike
when. once banking restrictions began
to be lifted, automobile sales took q
swift upturn.
As a result of the growing momentum
of sales In the last two weeks the belief
is expressed in Detroit that it will not
be long before the industry has made
up for lost time and lost sales In fact,
| 1t Is not improbable that May Is will
| see automobile production figures for
1888 on q par with the first four and 4
half months Of 1892.
Spring Sales Continued.
Statisticians declare that the Sprinr
auto sales, which are ordinarily the
heaviest factor in total production for
the year. may be expected to carry into
the early Summer. Their basis for
such forecast Is to be found naturally
in the hiatus that occurred during the
bank holiday. AS more Of the Nation 3
banks are reopened and credit expAn.
sion occurs. the accumulation Of de-
ferred orders must be felt.
Manufacturers in Detroit point to
talk of currency imitation as a favor
able influence on sales. Whether any
plan for imitation is adopted or not, the
! :,
the manufacturers point out, to stimu-
late a wave Of buying Any appreciable
increase In commodity prices must
necessarily find some response in in
creased automobile prices Most motor
manufacturers made heavy purchases
Of materials at recent low prices. But
these stocks could hardly be maintained
Indefinitely.
Mortgage Aid Helpful.
| A further factor in the more op-
timistic outlook for the whole year Is
the promise of readjustment in mort
cages for the farm population and the
small home owner
With virtual two-year moratorium
| in sight on mortgage payments for q
part of the country. automobile manu-
facturers justly feel that larger part
of the national income can be diverted
for the next year or two into the pur-
chase of automobiles. 1t can hardly
be denied that any relief from debts
and debt payments will be reflected in
automobile sales. no huge b the un-
satisfied appetite for new motor cars.
| Copyright. 1933l