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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 1917)
1 N AUTOMOBILE FIELD NOT HALF FILLED MEMBERS OF NICHOLS-RICE MOTOR COMPANY. Overproduction Not Likely for '., Many Years, Even at the t Present Prices. HIE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: FEBRUARY 25. 1017. THREE MILLION IN USE NOW So much has been written relative to the development of the motor car industry and so many prophecies have been ventured without proper consideration of vital and controlling factors that a clear and simple analy sis of the subiect may serve to dissi pate much of the unfounded con jecture. The automobile market is divided into two broad fields. First, the rural class, which includes all persons en gaged in farming and others in va rious businesses who live in towns of less than 500 population. Second, the urban class, which comprises all people in any but farming pursuits, who live in "towns of 500 or more population. In the rural or farming market there arc 6,500,000 families. One mil lion of these now own motor cars and 1,500.000 are poor, illiterate, or negroes, who for the purpose of this study may be excluded trom me prospective buying class. There re main, then, 4.000,000 farm families who are possible automobile buyers. Big Field for Salesmen. In the urban class, covered by 11.000 towns and cities of more than 500 population, there are about 5.000, 000 home owners, of which number only 2.000,000 now own cars. Ac cordingly, there remain 3,00tl,000 prospective buyers in this class, or a total actual unsold market, in both rural and urban classes, of 7,000,000 possible automobile buyers. The accepted average life of an au tomobile is about five years in the hands of the original owners; and as the man who once owns a car will not thereafter be without one. we must include the reorder market, which in the calendar year of 1917 will be about 600.000. this being 20 per cent of the 3.000.000 now in use. For the year 1I7, therefore the automobile business will (ace a market of about 7,600.000 possible buyers. Not more than 1,600,000 cars yi ill be built in the coming year, leav ing a nossiblc excess market of 6.000,000 buyers at the beginning of 1918. These figures are decidedly con servative because they take no con sideration of (1) any export outlet, (2) the people who have or will have two or more machines, (3) increased population, (4) increased prosperity, (5) a million or more town and city families who do not own the homes in which they live, but are well able (o buy and maintain a motor car. (6) the business houses, retail and whole sale merchants who use thousands of roadsters . for salesmen, and many thousands more of delivery cars (regular automobile chassis with commercial body), (7) taxicabs and other cars for public hire. An Important Fact. ' An important and noteworthy fact is vouched for by the editorial depart ment ot Automobile topics, a well known trade authority, which has been making a careful analysis of the comparative nature of automobile service. They state that of the 3,000, uuu motor cars ot all kinds in service in the United States today, they can conservatively say trom their investi gation that over one-half of the mile age of the 3,000,000 cars is used for business purposes. Literally this means that of the 3.000.000 automo biles running in this country todav, one-half, or 1,500,000, are used for business numoses. This leaves nnlv 1.500,000 in use for pleasure or social transportation purposes. In considering the 1,500,000 autom- biles in use today which may legit imately De classed as "pleasure cars," j an important fact should be borne in V mind, namely: the so-called pleasure car of today has a distinct economic use, it being only reasonable to de duce that the time and money spent in motoring tor pleasure or social in tercourse almost invariably takes the piace oi some otner lorm ot expendi ture of less actual economic vain Motoring is a pleasure that makes for broader vision, saner and more help- iui inversions, and a more svmDa- thetic social life. A nation without us sane pleasures is hopeless. There fore, it is far from logical to consider the so-called pleasure car of today as an added luxury. Room for Much Development. If production increases at the aver age rate maintained for the last five years which is unlikely, due to great er manufacturing problems and to in ability of the selling and distributive branches to keen oace with ermtlv augmented manufacturing volume ine point oi saturation will not be reached for five or six or even seven years. And some of the leaders in the industry predict that it will be a mat ter of ten or twelve years. All signs point to a continued de velopment for several years to come for just how long it! js difficult to say, put, as in many other new fields, lim itations and curtailment of expansion, arbitrarily predicted, are merely evi dence of a shortened vision or unfa miltarity with all of the facts. It is true that materials and labor are more expensive and increasingly hard to secure. This condition is not serious, nor is it likely to be. The makers of medium and high-priced cars overcomes the difficulty by an advance in their selling prices. The maunfacturers of low-priced cars build in much greater quantities, are protected by contracts until the end of the automobile year, July, 1917, and are able to absorbvadditional ex pense by spreading it out over a great number of units and by increasing their manufacturing efficiency. Marmon Has Device for Controlling Temperature A feature of the Marmon 34 for 1917 is a device for controlling the icuipciauirc oi ine water circulating system an important factor if maxi mum performance and economy are to be achieved. The thermostat used is a simple device which automatically provides a minimum water tempera ture of 125 degrees, Fahrenheit, at all times when the engine is running. The cooling capacity of the radiator, which comes into full play when the water temperature reaches 175 de grees, is sufficient to prevent a higher temperature even under very severe conditions . Super-Six Mulford the Year's Victor With Hudson The public is always interested in a victor, and the Hudson has been in the limelight of victorious perfor mance all through 1916. Ralph Mulford, at the wheel of the Hudson Super-Six, has done much to popularize the car. The daring driv er has piloted it in many feats of power and endurance which are des tined to stand for some time to come. Mulford has thus become identified with the Hudson Super-Six in the public mind. Me knows the Hudson Super-Six through and through and has been able to get every ounce of power and speed out of it. His en-' thusiasm over the Super-Six, with which he has shared in so many bril liant performances, is unbounded. While Mulford was not entered in many races during the last year, he enjoys the distinction of having driv en the Super-Six in the world's en durance record. He drove the car 1,819 miles in twenty-four hours, which beat all previous endurance records by 52 per cent. Elgin Motor Factory Facilities to Be Trebled Plans are now being prepared to erect an additional factory building for the plant of the Elgin Motor Car corporation at Sixty-first street and Archer avenue, Chicago, which will give the company three times the fac tory space it now has and provide for the annual output of 20,000 to 25,000 cars. In view of the fact that the Elgin corporation has only been manufac turing cars about one year and is now working on an output of 7,500 cars for the current year, its progress has probably been more rapid than that of any other company in the history of motordom. This, in the opinion of the motor authorities, is due to the unusually capable . staff of veteran automobile men at the head of each department of the company s business. 1 he hlgin operating force has been drawn from such well known com panies as Pierce-Arrow, Chandler, Saxon. Federal and others of equal renown. University Uses Marathon In Engineering Course G. W. Hobbs, professor of auto mobile engineering at the University of Wisconsin, said recently: That the automobile industry oc cupies a prominent place among the industries ot the country is shown Dy the fact that several of our leading universities have inaugurated courses automobile engineering. J. he course is as practical as possible and covers every phase of the automobile industry, including the tire, and ac tual demonstrations are given in which only parts and accessories of recognized quality are used. An idea ot the thoroughness with which each subject is treated is shown by the method of instruction on tire construction. Complete lec tures covering the construction and methods of preparing the raw ma terial are given and illustrated by the actual tear-down of sections of Mar athon Angle Tread Tires." Dealers Enthuse Over The Maxwell Truck The Maxwell oiic-ton truck, an nouncement of which has just been made by the Maxwell Motor com pany, Inc., through Walter E. Flan ders, president and general manager, is on display at the sales room of the C. W. Francis Auto company. So enthusiastic has been the com ment on every hand regarding the newest vehicle for commercial haul ing, that the company officials are highly pleased.' it is announced that the Maxwell company will build 25,000 of these trucks as its hrst-year production. Assurances that this number will be marketed have already been obtained. There are over 3,000 dealers in the Maxwell organization and thev have already contracted for the company immediate output Will Positively Out -Perform Any Car in Its Price Class NEARLY everybody now knows the tremendous success the Saxon "Six" has won. Nearly everybody knows that the Saxon "Six" is the finest car for less than $1,000. Owners, of course, were first to find out this superiority. But it I did not long remain merely a matter of owner knowledge. For from them, thousands of them all over this country, came reports of its speed, its smoothness, its power, its acceleration. They spoke frequently of its extraordinary gasoline economy, its unusual free dom from need of repair service, its superlative strength and stability. And these report coming day after day, growing con stantly, have gradually molded and welded these individual beliefs into a common public belief that Saxon "Six" is the best car in its class. Then as if to substantiate and confirm the superiority shown in private use, Saxon "Six" began to show its superiority in public competition. It won a noted hill climb in the east against many higher priced cars. It defeated by fifteen minutes over a 500-mile course a train which is the pride of the west. It thrice vanquished costlier rivals in speed, acceleration, and in hill climbing at the San Diego Exposition. It exhibited acceleration from standing start to 45 miles per hour in 23.6 seconds. ' 206 stock model Saxon "Sixes" traveled 61,800 miles and . , averaged 23.5 miles per gallon of gasoline. Each car ran 300 miles without stopping the motor. 38 stock model Saxon "Sixes" raced in relays from coast to coast in 6 days, 18 hours and 10 minutes. This is the record automobile time between New York and San Francisco. ( So when you come to seek the reason for the overwhelming success of Saxon "Six" you will find it, most likely, in this matchless ability to perform.; If you should search still further you will find a two-fold answer. First, that Saxon "Six" at the outset was built right, that the principles of its construction were correctly evolved and accurately carried to completion. Second, that Saxon "Six" since the outset has been passing through a continuous condition of development and refine ment. , Here is the big point for you, Mr. Prospective Car Buyer: No matter whether you are considering the purchase of a car higher in price, or lower in price, than the Saxon Six, you owe it to yourself to see the Saxon Six at the Auto Show, where we will display a sedan, touring car and chummy roadster model. Study it, ride in it, drive it compare it generally with the car of your first se lection before making a final choice. See the Saxon Line at the Omaha Auto Show, Space No mm NOYES-KILLY MOTOR COMPANY '-SSS'SSZ?