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Show RED DISTRIBUTOR ! DOES BIG BUSINESS Manager Grady Discovers Demand Is Governed by Actual Needs. "I have been searching- everywhere Ior , the fellow who said the automobile busi- j ness was going to be slow this spring, but so far I have been unable to locate anyone who will now own up to the authorship of that statement," exclaimed E. M. Grady, ealesmanager of he Grady Motor Car company, on his return from a visit to various Reo distributors throughout the country. "Our sales records show that business has opened up this year about two weeks j earlier .than usual, and that despite one 1 of the most severe winters we have ever j had. Orders are rolling in from every- j where, and if we could make them and j then ship them this would be our banner year. "Nor Is this condition confined to the Reo product. In all .fairness, 1 must say that practically all reputable makers are enjoying the same demand for their prod- j uct in fact, there is a general and a very heavy overdemand. Or course, prices are higher all the way along the line, but, on the other hand, everybody's earning capacity and profits are greater. "Not only that, but the need La greater. Presumably, nobody buys an automobile, and especially at this time of year, for pleasure. Fully 99 per cent of the purchases pur-chases are made under the spur of necessity neces-sity a necessity that will brook no delay. de-lay. "In some cases, perhaps, buyers are simply protecting themselves against further advances in price, which they realize must come; and others are trying to get in ahead of the spring rush. But in all cases the indications are that necessity ne-cessity is the principal incentive and that the demand is not confined to any one section of the country, but is general. "The shipping problem is discouraging. A very large percentage of the cars and trucks -have to be driven overland, and dealers, realizing what the spring freshets fresh-ets will mean to the roads, have taken all we could give them during the winter months, when cross-country driving is easier. "We all dread the next few- weeks, when the spring showers are bound to result in washed-out bridges and hub-deep hub-deep mud. But there is one consolation, even in that, from the factory's standpoint, stand-point, and that is, there may be a slight letup in the demand, which will give us a chance to get another breath and try to prepare for the tremendous rush that is bound to ensue the minute the roads dry up." |