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Show Backlog Of Orders For New Cars Hits 7,300,000 NEW YORK The enormous demand that still exists in this country for durable gtoods is dramatized in a report by the National Automobile Dealers Association As-sociation estimating the current backlog of orders for new cars at 7,300,000 units.. This does not take into account the very considerable market for used cars, nor the fact that auto, truck and bus registrations currently cur-rently are at an all time high. Experts estimate that by the end of 1948 a total of 40 million vehicles ve-hicles will be using U. S. roads, an increase of 17 per cent from 1941. Granted that there is certain to be some duplication of orders among automobile dealers the backlog of 7,300,000 remains overwhelming. Translated into tires, it can be multiplied by five; and so on throughout the accessories field. It is also a portent of the way purchasing power is holding. If 7,300,000 people have the desire and the means to buy new automobiles, auto-mobiles, merchants can rest assured as-sured that a good many more than that intend to buy rugs, furniture, home appliances and other items in hard goods lines. In television alone, for instance, in-stance, a potential retail business of $400 million has been forecast fore-cast for 1949. Similar market predictions give business generally a good many reasons for continuing optimism. |