U.S. CAR PRICES BEING LOWERED

Grey River Argus, 1 March 1949, Page 5

U.S. CAR PRICES BEING LOWERED

DETROIT, Feb. 25 General Motors has announced a reduction in the prices of passenger automobiles of 10 to 40 dollars “to pass along to consumers the savings resulting from the downward adjustment of wage and salary payments and the lowered cost of some materials.” It was announced earlier that the wages of more than 270,000 General Motors employees would be reduced by two cents an hour as. a result of a decline in the cost of living. It is estimated that the wage cuts will save the corporation from 9,000,000 to 10,000,000 dollars annually. , , A clause in the employees’ contract with General Motors provides for an automatic wage adjustment of one cent an hour for every change of 1.15 points in the Government cost of living index. The present average hourly wage of the workers affected by the wage cuts is 164 cents. ’ln Detriot, the Ford Company announced that it would increase production substantially in the next four months; but would not follow the lead of General Motors in loweringprices. A company spokesman said the current high level of wages and material costs would prevent Foid from reducing prices.