Evening Star Newspaper, January 27, 1929, Page 107

PROSPECTS BRIGHT FOR AUTO MAKERS Strong Predicts Successful Year, With Reflected Pros- perity for Nation. ‘The automotive industry, as much as any other, truthfully mirrors conditions throughout the country, according to E. T. Strong, president of the Buick Motor Co. The automotive industry faces one of the brightest eras in its history this year, he said, adding, “it is apparent that the entire country stands on the ihreshold of a year that bids fair to equal, if not surpass, any similar period in the last decade. The automotive industry, employing directly and indirectly 4,110,000 in"the United States, makes approximately 18,000,000 persons—about one-sixth of the total population—dependent on it for their livelihood. Business throughout the Nation is sound, Mr. Strong. declares, adding, all lines of industry are running smoothly; conditions in the vast agricultural areas are good and with the automobile in- dustry running to capacity, prosperity must result. Savings Reflect Prosperity. “In few ways is the general pros- perity of the Nation more clearly shown than the billions of dollars in- vested by the United States citizens in stocks and bonds in the last year and the additional billions invested in au- tomobiles,” he asserted. “This has been made possible to a large extent by the huge increase in the national income, which nas jumped from $60,000,000,000 in 1920 to $100,- 000,000,000 in 1928. That the people of the United States are saving more and more further is shown in the fact that, despite the enormous sums in- vested, they total but a small part of the $40,000,000,000 increased income. “The huge growth of savings in the last 10 years, or during the so-called ‘motor age,’ is a big item. “In 1917 American Bankers' Associa- tion figures show savings deposits in the country amounted to $10,875,602,000 and building and loan association as- sets totaled $1,769,142,175. That year the wholesale value of motor vehicles ‘was $1,274,488,449. Eleven years later, with motor vehicles valued at approxi- mately $3,000,000,000, savings deposits had reached a total of $26,090,902,000 and building and loan association as- sets had climbed to $7,000,000,000. Installment Buying Decreased. “That the average American family now has more to spend on the motor car is revealed in figures of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, which show that the percentage of new cars sold on_installment payments in this country decreased from 75 per cent of the total in 1925 to 58.1 cent in 1928, and the percentage of used cars sold on deferred payments over the same period decreased from 62.8 to 60.8 per cent. “The outlook for the automotive in- is affected favorably, too, by the progress in construction of good roads throughout the Nation; by the generally excellent ‘crop conditions of the past season and the prospect of another year of good yleld in 1929, as well as bv the removal of the Govern- ment excise tax on motor cars. “Our own confidence in substantial good thingy ahead is based further upon marke: analyses, which show the existence of sound conditions. “‘Another factor that indicates a ban- ner year in the industry in 1929 is the broadened scope of the market, particularly the ever-increasing re- lacement demand, which has jumped rom less than 200,000 in 1917 to about 2,000,000 in 1927, and which will show a further-increase for 1928 and in the coming year. - “Then there is the big growth in two and three car families which now has reached a total of more than 3,000,- 000 in the United States, and which steadily is increasing as realization of the necessity for more than one car in a family becomes mor. apparent. “Still- another factor in increasing sales is the huge growth of the foreign market, which has pushed ahead Unit- ed States exports of automobiles from 38,430 in 1921 to approximately 534,- 642 in 1928. “It’s a far cry from the mining of tin and lead and the manufacture of plate glass to the final assembly lines of the modern automobile plant, yet 22 per cent of the tin and 16.7 per cent of the lead mined in this country and 63 per cent of the plate glass produced are used in the manufacture of motor cars. “The steel industry, ranking third in the United States, gives 15 per cent of its men and product to the build- ing of automobiles; 85 per cent of the work in the gigantic rubber concerns of the country is traceable directly to the demands of the automobile in- dustry; gasoline and oil, taken from the earth in the oil g:gducin¥ regions of the country, are absorbed in a vol- ume of more than 80 per cent by the industry; the leather-tanning industry pays more than 60 per cent of its em- ployes with automobile manufacturers’ checks, and lumber, cloth, aluminum, copper, zinc, nickel, paint and lacquer, hair and padding all are used in vary- ing almoum.s in the production of auto- iles. “The importance of the automotive industry to the railroads of the United States is evidenced by the fact that 3,267,388 carloads of shipments in 1927 and even more in 1928 can be traced definitely to the manufacture and use of automobiles, in addition to which there were countless carloads of road- building machinery, materials and equipment used in automobile factory and branch construction and mainte- nance, garages, fuel oil, ores and exten- sive less-than-carload freight and ex- press shipments of accessories and re- pair parts.” NASH OFFICIAL CITES “DEPLORABLE” TOLL Solution of Traffic Fatality Prob- lem Hinges on Car Makers, He Says. It is estimated that 25,000 people met death in traffic accidents in the United States last year, according to J. T. Wilson, vice president of Nash Motors Co. “In some of our great cities this deplorable toll exceeded 1,000 during 1928, in spite of the marked improve- ments in street and boulevard facilities and traffic control apd the effective ef- forts of great safety agencies. Phy 1 safeguards, such as high- way pavement widening, double-deck~ ing of heavy traffic streets, separation of grades at dangerous railroad cross- ings and highway intersections, and automatic light control have served to materially reduce these traffic casual- ties, when we consider the annual ine crease in the number of automobiles registered. Year after year, since 1917, fewer deaths per 100,000 cars in use have been reported. But the appalling fact remains that these thousands of lives were lost. It is a fact that de- mands serious attention by every right- minded man in the country, and is one of vital concern to automobile manufacturers. “By far the biggest contribution made to traffic safety by the industry, over and above the constant support it gives to general safety campaigns, is the concentrated engineering effort it expends on improvements in driving control. It is obvious that automobiles under perfect driver control at all times reduce traffic accidents to a minimum. “The one sure way to na. tional traffic safety lles in mechanical improvements to the cars themselves” JAMERICAN MOTOR CARS POPULAR IN RUMANIA Of 12,000 Autos in Bucharest 10,000 Are of United States Make. BUCHAREST (#)—Rumania, one of Europe’s smallest nations, is a flour- ishing market for automobiles of Ameri- can manufacture. Of the 12,000 cars registered in Bucharest, the capital city, 10,000 are medium priced motors from the United States. Despite favoring customs dues, con- tinental manufacturers have been un- able to break down the. prejudice in this country in favor of the American car. American trucks and tractors are familiar sights in the rural districts of Rumania,. which exhibit a sgrlnknng of Canadian motor tractors, but pre- fer those made in the United States. AUTO TRADE HOLDS PUBLIC CONFIDENGE Faith in Reliable Perform- ance Big Asset in Huge Sales. Approximately 4,000,000 new automo- biles were purchased in 1928 and one factor played an important part in every sale. That factor was confidence. Each and every one of these million of purchasers must have had confidence in the manufacturer before his order was signed, according to D. S. Eddins, vice president of the Olds Motor Work. ‘This great expression of confidence on the part of motor car buyers is one of the greatest assets of the automotive industry. And it has been earned, for without question the automotive indus- try has been one of the leaders in build- ing confidence, Every year thousands of people visit automobile factories, are welcomed and shown every detail of how motor cars are manufactured. There are no secrets. Guides are furnished to explain the reason for each operation and how ac- curate the workmanship must be to pass inspection. Such a policy has inspired confidence on the part of the public. No Need for Horses. In the early days of the automobile the major obstacle pioneers had to over- come was the lack of confidence shown by the public. On every hand early motorists were greeted with the sarcastic advice, “get a horse.” Following this period of recognition by the general public, that the automo- bile had come to stay and to play an important part in our social and eco- nomic lives, came new manufacturers. The automobile was an acknowledged fact. Now it was a quastion of what car was best. No longer is the question of confidence one that presents a problem to the industry as a whole. Today con- fidence is a relative matter between in- dividual makes of cars. No longer do we hear the question, “Is an automobile desirable?” but now that all cars are recognized and perform the tal requisites of an automobile, we hear the question, “What .car is best for my needs?” And the answer to this modern automotive question reflects itself in car sales. Any car that is gaining a larger share of the sales in its price class is doing so because the makers of that car are increasing their hold on pnguc gonfldence 0 obtain and hold the confidence of the motoring public & manufacturer must pursue a policy of open-minded- that he is in partne; with the pub- lic and that this association will con- 0f conf of his ability. St Unquestionably he must build a good car. That is conceded. Furthermore, he should strive to give the greatest automobile value for the dollar possible. To do this he must keep his mind open to receive and test everything new- which in any way may improve his product or increase the efficiency of its operation. Only by proving and adopt- ing new ideas can he attain the dis- tinction of leadership in his trnee class and thereby increase the confidence the public has in his company and product. Honest Sales Policy. ‘This same principle must be main- tained throughout his entire organiza- tion. There must be an honest sales policy. His product should not be misrepresented to a buyer. If he has accomplished his first objective by building his car well, there is no neces- sity for mistepresentation, and today progressive companies are spending sub- stantially of time and money in training their renreunl huu:’el flE & confidence- sales pol t presents their products in an honest manner. Nothing begets confidence like confi- dence. If a manufacturer has confidence in his product, he wins the confidence of his public, therefore a broad-service policy is a necessity. When the public sees & manufacturer who is willing to stand back of his product to the limit, they immediately say, “It must be good.” Probably no other industry or busi- ness requires this mutual confidence to any greater extent than does the auto- motive. The automobile is & product Wwith the sciences of engineering, chem- istry, electricity and metallurgy com- bined into oné of the most powerful engines for its size the world has known, Far more than 90 per cent of the rroduct is sold to those who have but ittle technical owledge in these lc{::m, therefore they must buy on aith, And the reason why approximately 4,000,000 automobiles were sold . 1928 is because the public has this faith in the manufacturers through the knpwl- edge that the car makers have not abused the confidence the public has extended. AID CAR EFFICIENCY. ‘Wornout Spark Plugs Cause Poor Running. An automoblle properly serviced, en- gineers agree, should give as good per- formance after 25,000 miles of driving as it did when new. Among the important minor servicing items t should be looked after regu- larly are spark plugs. Old or wornout spark plugs, according to AC Spark Plug Co. engineers, cause poor starting and excessive drain on the battery, poor running and loss of power, es- pecially on hills, £ 3 ;g‘;fi i §§$¥%§§ Still “conveniently located on 14th street” and the same set slogan of ‘Satisfaction Plus” from smiling sales and service THOUSANDS HELP INAUTO RESEARCH Al Branchgs of Science and Labor Contribute, Marmon Head Points Out. ‘To develop the motor car to its pres- ent state of efficiency, the automobile industry has drawn from every form of sclentific research and from practically every branch of labor, it is pointed out by G. M. Williams, president of the Marmon Motor Car Co. ‘Though it is the function of the auto- motive engineer to develop and perfect new and more efficient points of design and construction, it also is his duty to keep abreast of advancements through- out the world of science, for often, in some remote corner of the earth, a new idea may have an important effect on the automobile industry, Mr. Williams continued. To_draw an interesting illustration, Mr. Williams declared that even the half-savage native in far-off Africa who finds a hetter way to remove the gum from a rubber tree is a contrbutor to the progress of America’s greatest in- dustry. Most manufacturers, such as Marmon, he said, maintdin a board of engineers which regularly collects and aflalyzes reports from all branches of science. Savages Contribute. “If there is a country in the entire world or a State in the entire United States that does not contribute sub- stantially to the automotive industry in products, brains, or even unskilled labor, I do not know its name,” Mr. Willilams said. “The savage in Africa or South America, gathering the gum from rub- ber trees, later to be exported to the United States for tires, is just as im- portant a contributor to the eficiency of the automobile as is his better paid cousin in a giant factory who carefully fits pistons into the cylinder block of an engine. “Southern European countries have sent their unskilled labor to America. ‘There are the tool apd guage experts of the Scandanavian countries who have contributed in, no small way to the exact science of measurement that is used in building automobile engines. ‘There are the woodsmen who send ma- terial for body and interior wood work, AUTOMOBILE SHOW Five chassis—si: $885 to $2495, and the countries and districts which supply the array of metals such as iron, nickel, aluminum, copper, brass and silver are as important contributors as the laborers who, gather wood and silk in various corners of the earth to serve as the basis for upholstery and fittings. “This list might be extended greatly, but to my mind even more important is the manner in which the automobile industry looks toward new inventions, methods, ideas and developments. It has been said that the brains of 100,000 men are apparent in the modern auto- mobile, and I believe it is no exaggera- tion. Engineer Board Maintained. “Practically every automobile factory, iIncluding our own, maintains a board of engineers for the purpose of keep- ing in touch at all times with the progress being made in every industry allied to the automobile and with every industry which has even the most re- mote possibility of supplying some con- tribution to the motor car. “Merely the fact that spark plugs are used in the engine of a motor car means that the ceramic industry is vitally in- terested in the automobile industry. Ceramic chemists are at work continu- ally to evolve a better formula, perhaps, for the production of the bit of porce- lain insulation of each plug. “Probably no group of scientists has furnished more contributions to the automobile, or is more keenly interested in its development, than metallurgists. Their contributions number into the many thousands; babbited bearings, special alloys for pistons and piston rings, experiments to find stronger yet lighter metals suitable for chassis and bodies and chromium plating are but a few of the contributions of metal- lurgists. In the fleld of electriegl engi- neering there is another great group of scientists who have contributed such GRARAM On Display At OUR SHOWROOM and the and eights—prices Upper left: La Salle Sport Phaeton.. Upper right: Auburn Speedster. Lower: Nash Special Sedan. important features as head lamps, ig- nition, the magneto and tail lam The work of rubber cHemists and paint chemists is plainly seen. In addition, hundreds of contributions have come from clock and instrument makers, woodworkers, glass workers and many more. Know What Is Going On. “It is the duty of the board of engi- neers to know what is going on always in these varied industries and to be ready to change an entire manufactur~ ing or assembling department on a mo- ment’s notice if some new development is made which obsoletes the one al- ready in practice. “There is almost as large a group that busies itself with ghnmnx. mak- ing and improving machinery to make the various parts of an automobile. Into Abreast of this group falls those inventors who make the marvelous gauges to which parts are held to insure precision work- manship. Another group works on time and labor saving machinery—figuring out how some new machine can do bet- ter work with lessiman power, or how a plant may be rearranged for more efficient production. [l “Mathematicians and physicists, too, have important roles to play in the manufacture of the autdmobile. They must be able to figure out correctly such things as the horsepower necessary to efficiently pull a motor car of a certain weight, or how much unsprung weight a car must have in order to insure safe comfortable riding. Another Group of Pioneers. “During the last two decades Qther group of pioneers has beer 7i ing invaluable contributions to the automotive industry. That group con- sists of the race drivers, engineers on their own merits, who test from year to year the improvements made by all in- dustries for the automobile. If such improvements survive the gruelling speedway tests they are meritorious enough to be placed on the regulation automobile. “I do not believe,” Mr. Williams con- cluded, “that” any product manufac- tured has as interesting a life history or family tree as the automobile, Archimedes, the famous Greek physicist, has contributed to it. So has New- ton. The automobile makes use of the discoveries and inventions of Pranklin, Edison and the others, as well as those exclusively of its own.” o 'RAIL PASSENGERS SHOW BIG DROP SINCE 1920 Comparing present rail receipts with the high period of 1920, the Interstate Jommerce Commission finds that the notor vehicle business is helping to nprove the freight receipts of the rail nes, though passenger revenue is light- r. “As compared with conditions in '920, the passenger revenue of 1927 ieclined 24.2 per cent, the number of )assengers declined 32.8 per cent and he number of passenger-miles declined 8.2 per cent,” says the forty-second wmnual report of the Interstate Com- nerce Commission. “These declines are striking, but in considering their significance from the standpoint of railroad finance, it should be consid- ered that the development of the auto- mobile industry has helped to swell the freight revenue.” THE' public and the automobile trade are cordially invited to inspect the complete line of Graham-Paige sixes and eights — with refinements and improvements, and the time-proved four-speed transmission (two high speeds — standard gear shift) — which represent our earnest endeavor to keep abreast of the times and to make our product constantly better. ranging from ar. illustrated is Model B%{‘eight- cylinder, five-passenger Sedan, $1925 (special equip~ ment extra). All prices at factory. |WOMEN INTERESTED IN AUTO ENGINES Combine Demand for Beauty With Insistence Upon Good Performance. While the beauty appeal in the mod- ern automobile has developed new mar- kets among woman buyers, they are locking more closely into the mechani- cal details of the car than ever before, a recent survey of the Dodge Brothers' dealer organization showed. The in- creasing number of woman drivers has resulted in manufactures generally of- fering improvements in motor cars with features appealing directly to the femi- nine viewpoint. “There was a time when women were satisfied with a smart looking automo- bile,” sald a Dodge Brothers’ engineer, who, assisted in the survey of the dealer organization. “The machinery under the hood was taken for granted. It was an uninteresting and unexplored region as far as they were concerned— engineering questions were left to_the men to think about and decide. It i \ different now. The average woman n« longer secks -appearance alone. Sh wants a mechanically perfect automo: bile in the bargain. “Many woman drivers today view the automobile through the eyes of the me- chanic. To use an expression of the automobile world, they are ‘motor-wise.” Their questions are as practical as those asked by men. They are equally exact- ing about the performance of the par- ticular model they are considering. They want to know if it is dependable, spirit- ed, easy to handle and whether it has smooth-riding qualities. And they want to know why. They are as keen to de- mand quick acceleration as men are, with the assurance that their car will be out in front when the traffic light turns from amber to green. They ask for gears that change easily and noise- lessly, and brakes that hold when even the slightest foot pressure is applied. “Manufacturers who do not keep the woman driver in mind when new models are announced are far behind the times. Utility i8 just as important to women as appearance, for they demand an auto- mobile that is mobile in traffic, safe all speeds and handles easily.” Japan Bans “Yellow” on Cars. Motor cars painted yellow are not sold in Japan, since this color, not the conventional black, is significant of mourning, according to an export report. GRAHAM-PAIGE COMPANY OF WASHINGTON, D. C. Factory Branch—1522 14th Street N.W . E. B. Frazier Motor Co. 518 10th St. N.E. Logan Motor Co. 1812 E St. N.W. GRARAM-BA] Motor Sales & Service, Inc. 33 N. Y. Ave. NE.