U.S. TO CUT CAR PRODUCTION

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27875, 25 January 1956, Page 16

U.S. TO CUT CAR PRODUCTION

Record Stocks And Few Buyers COMPANY LAYS OFF WORKERS (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) NEW YORK, January 23. About 10.150 workers in 10 factories of the Chrysler Company will be laid off on Wednesday and the biggest pileup of unsold motor-cars in the United States suggests that a deeper dip in production might be just ahead, the “Wall Street Journal” reports today. The newspaper says that the car output in the United States is now about 10 per cent, below that of a year ago, and it quotes a leading New York agent as saying: “I think production should be cut back at least another 10 per cent.” The estimated figure of unsold new cars at January 1 is 750,000, says the “Wall Street Journal,” adding: “Never have there been so many cars without buyers on hand at this time of the year. “Stocks at the beginning of the year were more than double those of a year ago, 44 per cent, above two years ago, and 145 per cent, above three years ago.” Noting that the “car birth rate” hqs risen faster than that of people, the “Wall Street Journal” quotes these figures: Cars made every 1000 Year Cars made persons 1925 .. 3,735,171 32 1937 .. 3,929,203 31 1940 .. 3,717,385 28 1950 .. 6,665,863 44 1955 .. 7,942,983 48 “There has never been anything quite like this great effusion of metal on wheels,” the “‘Wall Street Journal” says. “There are now 62,000,000 motor vehicles on United States roads and for every four passenger cars on earth three are on United States thoroughfares. “New York and Chicago have about as many cars as all of France and all of Italy combined, and in the streets of St. Louis there are twice as many as in all of Japan,” the newspaper says.