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Show ; DTD SITUATION Fl SUMMARY "Very properly the effort3 of the cn-(irc cn-(irc automobile industry for the past twelve months have been concentrated on winning the war. Production of automobiles even automobile i nicks -for ordinary commercial, and domes - tic purposes has ceased to bo the paramount para-mount concern of automobile manufacturers manu-facturers ; for the makers of motor cars have been too busy converting to government uses the energy, the in-tenuity, in-tenuity, the resourcefulness and the efficiency which in the past two decides de-cides have enabled the automobile industry in-dustry to revolutionize manufacturing! methods and to develop quantity pro-' duction to a point never before dreamed of," stated F. H. Akers, sales manager of the Reo Motor Car com pany, in a recent interview. This conversion of energy has taken tak-en many and divergent forms. Not all jf the autoombile factories are actual -v producing munitions of war, although al-though the production of trucks for military service, of airplane engines, -, anti-submarine craft, of artillery f iractors and a thousand and one other things which the United States and her allies need most urgently for direct di-rect use in winning the war is engaging engag-ing ;i surprisingly large part of the prOGUCilvi? i-aj;nv.iij vi uiuj ul iuc blggest automobile factories in the country. "In view of the assistance which the automobile industry already has rendered ren-dered the government in preparing to prosecute the war most effectively particularly since this activity is bene be-ne constantly increased we shall not be accused of sordid commercialism or oi a lack of patriotism if, even at this Lime, we digress for the purpose of I iliempting to diagnose the future of I bis mammoth Industry itself. For, jrhlle our present duty is to give our-lelvefl our-lelvefl whole-heartedly to the winning :i the war the injunction 'In time oi war prepare for peace" was never more jlearly applicable than today. "At the best, there is certain to be I a permd of sharp industrial and com -1 .nercial readjustment as soon as hos- j tilities shall cease; and it is equally pertain that the necessity for liquidating liquidat-ing the enormous war debts that are dow being piled up will result in an j International race for commercial su-premac su-premac which will completely eclipse Germany's former efforts to, secure a place in the sun. Consequent I j it behooves those of us who are unwilling unwill-ing to see America left at the barrier ,n this great race to see to it that as oearly as possible her commercial and Industrial equilibrium be maintained ?ven at this time. If we may judge the future by the past and the present, the automobile business still is in a period of comparative com-parative infancy. If figures mean anything any-thing at all. they indicate unmistak-ably unmistak-ably that the 'point of saturation' whatever that may mean has not been reached. The curve of production, produc-tion, to the end of 1917, is still upward, up-ward, and while there is certain to be a marked recession in 191S it will be due not to a falling off of demand which of course would be the case if !he maximum absorptive power of the country had been reached but to the necessity of releasing for government uses part of the materials, men and plant capacity which normally would have been utilized for the manufacture )f automobiles. "It is significant that even in 1917 production exceeded that of 1916 by approximately 20 per cent; and it is still more significant that right now used cars of all makes and classes are selling briskly at prices representing an advance of from 40 per cent to 60 i per cent over what the same cars were ' selling for a year ago. It is doubtful if there qver was a time in the history of the automobile business when there was as lively a market for used ears as at the present time; and when We consider this statement in the !i.'lit of the admitted fact that the supply of automobiles has never equnlled the demand, it is apparent not only that neither the buying power nor the buying buy-ing inclination of the public has diminished, dim-inished, but that it has actually increased. in-creased. ' It la at least doubtful whether production pro-duction will again get back to normal before the end of the war. If it dops not, we may look forward with the utmost confidence to an oversold market mar-ket for the remainder of the conflict. The great middle class including farmers and skilled workmen who make up the bulk of the buyers of medium -priced automobiles are flush With money. It's natural that they should be spending part of it for conveniences con-veniences which ihe have never before be-fore been able to afford, and that's eracuy wnai tney are aom. "Personally. I am extremely optim- isiie over the outlook for the automobile auto-mobile business not only for the period per-iod after the war, but for the immediate imme-diate present The prosperity of the Industry for the present Is limited, of course; but it is limited not by natural na-tural economic causes, which are fun-' damental, but by the desirability and necessity for our sacrificing selfish ends to the greater cause in which we are all so vitally interested." oo |