NEXT YEAR'S CARS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 237, 6 October 1936, Page 18

NEXT YEAR'S CARS.

AMERICAN MODELS. STEEL TOPS AND BODIES. AIR-CONDITIONING PLANS. (By EDWARD W. MORRISON.) DETROIT, August 15. As automobile plants prepare to swing over to 1037 models, the trend of production appears likely to continue definitely downward during the next four weeks. Six factories already are closed for one reason or another —vacations, annual inventory, or retooling for new models. The number that will be inactive will increase as September approaches. Succeeding weeks are likely to see production dropping at a rate of 1500 units a day. Mid-September is now marked as the low spot of the year. By that time some of the plants will be ready to turn toward assembly of their 1937 cars. By September 1 over 3,000,000 passenger cars and trucks will have been sold in 1936. Dealers and manufacturers can look hack on 11 months of almost continuous sales and production activity since this year's models were introduced. The lull that is overtaking the industry will be used, therefore, to gird for the long programme that will cover the period between the November shows and the autumn of 1937'.

Although the shows are already being mapped out, less than usual talk is being heard in Detroit about the changes that will be made in new models. The chief reason, perhaps, is that the manufacturers foresee the need for only a minimum of revision in their lines. When sales are running as heavily as they hkve been the past eight months, there' can be little incentive for the manufacturers to gamble on drastic overturn in. body or mechanical arrangements. True, they are willing to experiment "with minor factors, but in times of prosperity the auto manufacturers tend to be conservative. Economy of Operation. The trend that cars appear certain to take next year is toward economy of operation.;, Whereas in other years, motorists have heard so. much about how fast a car would go, for 1937 they will hear the emphasis placed on mileage. In the first place, the manufacturers know there is a fixed limit which they must recognise in extending, year by year, the number of miles on .the speedometer clock.' Most erf the cars already have put their speedometers up as high as road ability permits. In the second place, they are eager to discourage sales appeals' that are based chiefly on speed. The demand for safety education, they recognise, cannot be supported by the Automobile Manufacturers Association, on the. one hand, and advertising campaigns based on tl\e attributes of speed be carried on by individual companies. They are willing to question, also, whether high potential speed qualities have ever been an influential sales factor. The third reason for the economy appeal is a rising awareness on the part of motorists about petrol consumption. Several manufacturers that have been able to support their claims of exceptional mileage a gallon'have seen their sales rise at the expense of their competitors. The automobile, far : from being used only occasionally is. under power so constantly in the average family that petrol purchases are items in the budget to be watched with some interest. ) ' More than a few of the 1937 . models will appear with steel tops. This is a step in the gradual inclosure of the whole car in steel. Since 1925, the automobile has become -more and,'more a product of steel. • Gear Shift Devices.

There is gossip that one company may feature a gear shift device that will do away with the hand lever. Whether the new arrangement will be optional or standard equipment has not been disclosed. Much experimental work has been done in the industry on automatic gear levers of various kinds, and more of the cars may be expected to turn up with substitutes for the present levers. One firm points out that its so-called electric hand has become increasingly popular until 46 per cent of the cars sold by its dealers call for elimination of the hand lever. The rapid growth of air-conditioning in homes and public places has raised the issue for the motor industry. There has been much discussion about the possibility of air-conditioning devices turning up in the 1937 models. The likelihood seems remote, however. The factories are by no means idle on this phase of automotive improvement. One manufacturer has gone far enough with plans that an announcement may be ready before another summer comes around. If continued progress is made in this particular laboratory, an air- ■ conditioning unit may be available for a .car. selling only slightly above £200, at an additional cost of not more than £15. This manufacturer foresees a small, compact cabinet that will' fit under the cowl. Scarcely anyone around Detroit denies that such a device will be a saleable item in automotive equipment.— (N.A.N.A. —Copyright.)