OCR Text |
Show Automotive Industry Moves Ahead i REGISTRATIONS k MILLIONS ' ST ' . iM'4 '41 'I ' '44 '47 '46 ' JT -i- "K w-.J. r ii , i ,i- i -i r"- J wJtmh vi ni'illlrli--vk"vj ' ' Automativ pt eduction ot ncard Uvk, mmn vtoiMtiv j?b,j!!S5..,w kfof, motor kkl travel (Mi now rttordl Thii it rh tiory ( pregrvu jnt rvald in rK avtamehv hmu try by rh Automobil Moiwfoctrr Auooation. DETROIT In the first six months of 1949, the automotive industry produced nearly J.000,000 new cart,' trucks and buses almost as many units as were turned out in the full year of 1946. A steady incrca.- has been registered since the industry surmounted its war reconversion problems. A 55 gain in production was made in 1947 over 1946. and 10 gain was registered in 1948 over the preceding year. The half year ot 1949 is up 20 from the first sis months of 1948. Industry jobs jumped from 6,700.000 in 1941 to 9,020,000 in 1948. This means one out of every seven fob holders in the nation earns his wages in the highway transportation industry. These jobs cover manufacturing,' road building, sales and service, trucking and miscellaneous work. Main street is dotted with more businesses keyed to highway transportation, and over 90 of them are small enterprises, employing less than 20 employes each. Business accounts for 56 of all car trips; social and recreational recrea-tional driving is 16 of the total; shopping 12 and other purposes 16. Rural travel climbed from 169 billion miles in 1941 to 197 billion in 1948. Urban travel increased from 165 billion miles in 1941 to 10 billion in 1948. Governmental agencies are collecting an all-time high in automotive dollars. Special taxes alone now exceed $5 billion annually, with motor trucks accounting for more than a third of the total. One of the largest tax items is the federal excise levy op new motor vehicles. First invoked as a "temporary emergency measure" in 19)2. it has been increased twice since, instead, of being repealed. ' |