OCR Text |
Show USED CAR BUSINESS COMPRISES SIXTY PER CENT SALES ARRANGEMENTS TO TRADE IN KEEP UP NEW CAR SALES DETROIT, MICH., May 13 An entirely en-tirely new slant on the used car, elevating it to its rightful place in the industry, was taken here by R. H. Grant, vice-president in charge of sales .of the Chevrolet Motor Company, Com-pany, in an interview just prior to sailing for a months' trip to Europe. As evidence of the growing importance impor-tance of the used car, Mr. Grant pointed out that during the first quarter quar-ter of 1928, "when the Chevrolet dealer deal-er organization was moving 250,000 new cars, if, also was delivering at retail re-tail more than 200,000 used cars. This was made possible by a changing chang-ing attitude toward the used car on the part of both the automobile dealer deal-er and the public, Mr. Grant said. "Where the automobile dealer formerly form-erly paid little attention to the used car," Mr. Grnt declared, "the proportions pro-portions of used car to new car sales has mounted so high that used cars are now an important part of his business. Today, practically all the direct dealers in the Chevrolet organization or-ganization having Ducoing equipment with which they refinish used cars in a manner similar to the factory. Cars are gone over from head light to tail lamp by skilled mechanics trained in approved factory methods. The reconditioned re-conditioned cars bear an 'O. K. Tag' showing that every vital part has been checked. They are then displayed dis-played attractively, and lenient time payments are. made available to the purchaser. "The public owes directly to the used car the wide range of prices at which transportation may be purchased, pur-chased, and the wide variety of models from which selections may be made. If there were no such thing as a trade-in 'price, the owner of an automobile, instead of turning it in on a new model, would drive it himself him-self until its usefulness was spent, just' as he now uses his furniture or his farm or garden implement. There would consequently be no used car mart for the man who wants to buy a car at less than new car cost. Millions Mil-lions of present motorists who were attracted by used car prices would not now own automobiles if there had been no used car market. "Every good automobile today is built with many years of service in it. The original purchaser .generally .general-ly turns it in on a new model after he has driven it a few years. There remains in the car many miles of dependable de-pendable service which is available to the man who needs transportation transporta-tion on the basis of a low first cost. "Of some 25,000,000 passenger cars . now registered in the United States, it is estimated that approximately 60 percent are in the hands of their second or third owners. In other words fifteen million motorists are now riding in cars that were purchased pur-chased on resale. "Eliminate the used car from the market, and a good share of those fifteen million people would be denied the .privilege of owning a car. And most of the remaining ten million motorists would be driving cars that do not measure up to their ideas of style simply because they would not be able to get a trade-in allowance, and would refuse to scrap their cars with unused value remaining in them. "The result would have been a great many less new car sales within the past twenty years, and most of the twenty-five million present motorists mo-torists would have either no car at all or a car that fell short of their present taste for style, durability and performance. "Our dealers know that the used car .buyer of today is the new car buyer of tomorrow. They are anxious anxi-ous to satisfy him because it means future business. By reason of the ; unprecedented demand for the Big-' ger and Better Chevrolet, our dealers deal-ers have a better variety of used j cars than ever before cars that are j better serviced; better finished and that represent better values. "There is every indication that our use d car "turnover this year will establish es-tablish a new high record even though both our new and used car sales are bigger than ever before during this season of the year." |