The Coolidge examiner., 1941-05-30


than the total registration in 1929.
Of these, the automobile popula-
\ ton figures show that there are
over a million of seven different
makes Of cars. There are $685.
3S5 registered Fords, 6,46O,47
Chevrolets, 2,93O,45O Plymouths,
1,500,11S Dodges, 1,422,06O Bucks,
1,239,5S7 Pontiacs and 1,074,27O
Oldsmobiles.
Along with the huge demand for
new automobiles, which would or
dinarily tax manufacturing facil-
tiles to the limit, the automobile
manufacturers have also been call
ed upon to produce $2,000,000,000
worth of defense equipment.
Public demand for new cars,
plus government demand for de-
tense production, has again center
ed national attention on the auto
mobile industry-the 30-year old
giant which already has amazed
the world with its demonstration
of mass production efficiency and
IS now gearing itself to be able to
say, You amt seen nothin' YETI"
DEFENSE -. CurtaiIment
Uncle Sam likes to see the nam
moth automobile industry strain
ing its big muscles for record pro-
duction, but he wants it to apply
all the strength it can muster up
to making tanks, planes and guns.
Fearing ever increasing demands
for pleasure automobiles, the gov
ernment therefore has issued or
ders to cut production. Begin
ming August 1, most manufacture
ers have been ordered to produce
20 per cennt less automobiles than
they did this year-in fact each
manufacturer has been told just
how many cars he will be permit
ted to turn out and we now know.
year ahead of time, that the to-
tai number of automobiles to be
made from August 1, 1941, to July
81, 1912, will be exactly 4,224,152.
The next problem is to reduce
public demand for new automobiles
to this same figure, thus prevent
ing prices from spiraling upward
and at the same time steering part
of increased purchasing power in
to industries not engaged in de-
tense and into the government
treasury.
Two possible ways in which the
purchase of new automobiles will
be discouraged are: % a heavy
luxury tax on automobiles, posi-
bly, amounting to as much as 20
per cent; (2) a curb on install
ment buying making it necessary
to pay so per cent down and the
balance over a period of not more
than a year.
These suggestions, plus possible |
scarcity of automobiles, have sent
people rushing to automobile deal
ers to get their orders in before
the government acts.
MATERIALS .... scarcity
The automobile industry is the
nations leading user of many raw
materials which are essential to
defense, and some of which are
becoming scarce. That's another
reason why the government has
ordered cut in production.
This means that substitute ma
terials may soon have to be used
in automobiles. The Office of
Production Management already
has asked the manufacturers to
practice the greatest possible
economy with certain critical ma
terials such as aluminium, copper
and nickel
In addition to the great use of
these products which are becom-
ing critical in defense production,
the industry also used enormous
quantities of other essential ma
terials, such as: 100000 tons of
gray iron; $4,000 long tons of
crude rubber; 34,OOO,OOO square
feet of leather; 148,000,OOO square
feet of plate glass; and 7,535,O0O
tons of steel.
We want new automobiles
but most of us would be glad to
wear our shoes out walking if by
doing so those tons of steel could
be used to defeat Hitler.
USED CARS 49,. popularity
1t looks like a big year for the
used car business.
| If heavy taxes ON automobile
purchases are put through, il in
stallment buying is curbed and II
scarcity develops, purchasers Will