| Show PROGRESS OF automobile TIRE INDUSTRY SINCE 1910 IS SHOWN A JA 4 JAK A abt q 1 1 94 C I 1 n K I 1 sw W ZW I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 ua A 1 1 1 1 I 1 ISO i 1 A ao 1 cotton increase I 1 labor wo aa abd U blice OF 60 U amodt Cm va k U 4 A nt of labor X Z es 1 labor nicitas 1 20 0 Z 20 1 r L 40 60 7 80 I 1 h 1001 1 rubber decrease 1 1 while most commodities used by man have baie adian advanced ced in cost during the past decade automobile tires are a notable exception I 1 agures just complied compiled bring out the significant fact that tire prices have a steady downward doNini jard trend since the year 1910 with A ith only a comparatively small increase during the war ar and after war days tires of standard make can now be bought at lower prices than before the war ar and indeed lower than at any time since 1910 1010 and this has been done without sacrifice of quality for every enery tire user know knovs s that le I 1 e Is getting twice the average mileage from his tires that he in was as getting a fe v years ago this unusual result las 1 as been ac comp lisl ed through the tremendously increased demand and use which per bitted quantity production and in larger part by means of the successive improvements in manufacturing proc esses which brought quality up and costs down chart tells story the accompanying chart tells a ing story of the progress si st ce 1910 of an industry whose products approach tl e b ilion dollar mark in total annual figures studying the chirt in detail it will be noted that starting with mth 1910 the general range of commodities in the united states nn vin about ur biform up until 1915 ul alile ile cotton and rubber the two chief materials used in the production of tires had a general downward do ni Nard trend corresponding to this the he price of the finished fai dished tires similarly moved downward until in january 1915 they reached the lowest point they had ever eer reached a point not again to be touched until the price deduc eions tl at took place this winter at this time 1915 tires were about 58 8 per cent lower tl an in 1910 1010 crude rubber prices turned upward in the spring of 1915 ind the nest next beir saw long staple cotton start on its spectacular career mounting high er and higher pas passing edg all former levels ever dreamed ot and reaching in the summer of 1920 a figure per cent higher than in 1910 at about the same time labor costs began to rise very nery all over mer the country affecting every industry that employed men vuth ra raw materials and labor costs both increasing the period from 1915 to the summer of 1920 saw the general range of corn com modules in the united states climb ing on and up until at the peak of 1920 they were nere over oner per cent higher than in 1910 in the rubber industry this increase in the cost of materials and labor mas as necessarily reflected in the cost of tires the downward doAnN Nard trend in price which had previously marked the in austry up to 1916 was replaced by a period of rising prices from the spring of 1918 until the fall of 1920 tire figures reached a point where they were within 30 per cent of the 1910 level end of increased costs the fall of 1920 however bov vever saw the end of the period of increased costs in nearly every raw material and fin dished product used by consumers long staple cotton came down as sharply as it had risen though it did not nt get back to its old low levels and at the beginning of 1922 Is still about 55 per cent higher than in 1910 in ti is it ranges just a little higher than the general price average of all commodities in the country as corn com piled b the united states department of labor labor costs cots too ha I 1 come down part of the way aay but still in this in austry stand more than per cent over the 1910 level crude rubber which represents lesa lesi than 21 per cent of the manufacture ing cost of tires fabric and labor being the big items has been movin i gradually do downward Anward since 1916 and though now on the upgrade Is still 80 per cent below 1910 its price broke sharply too in tl e tall fall of 19 10 0 cost of tires fell the cost of finished tires came down immediately in the fall of 1920 in line with the lowered cost of ma serials and labor despite the fact that there were large accumulations of stock both raw materials and finish ed products to be absorbed so toda today we find a situation where tires are 60 per cent lower than in 1910 in other word words tires ha have hae e not only gone below the pre war nar levels but are lower loner now than they have ev ever er been in the history of this industry and this result in an indilla industry ry such as the tire industry which makes diakes up over oer a billion dollars dollars worth of finished goods a year Is a story of tremendous economic significance aw |
