THE MOTOR MARKET

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 78, Issue 7017, 9 February 1949, Page 9

THE MOTOR MARKET

DECLINE IN AMERICA SALES FORCE BEING INCREASED Worried automobile dealers meeting at their annual conference in San Francisco admit that the lush days when new. cars commanded heavy premiums from thousands of fawning customers are over. High-pressure salesmanship is now necessary to shift some of the latest models. % Some dealers are offering free television sets to prospective buyers. Others are hiring energetic young salesmen with instruction to “sell or else.” Many makes are available for immediate delivery, particularly the more expensive models. The waiting period for the cheaper and more popular models has been substantially reduced. Within three months buyers may bo able to walk into any showroom and buy any car off the floor. Backlog orders may be wiped out overnight if unemployment continues to increase. The used car market is described as the worst since the war. Dealers blame Government restrictions on time-payment buying, and *the high cost of living. The big automobile factories are going ahead building up large sales forces, in preparation for cut-throas competition. Ford has 10,000 salesmen, compared with 5000 last year, and intends to take on a further 10,000. Cadillac, Packard, Chrysler and Studebaker are also planning vigorous drives. Factories hold out no hope of lower prices, but many dealers insist that economies must be made if the bottom is not to fall out of the market by the end of the year. Cars to-day cost more than double the pre-war price.