Automotive news. [volume], March 30, 1940, Page 3, Image 3

About Automotive news. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1938-current

Image provided by: Central Michigan University, Clark Historical Library

                
%a ieri teif me . .
Ily William C. Callahan
troTING in the National Auto
\ mobile Dealers Assn, refer
’®° on the Patman Regulatory
this week-end. It is not
ii$ d that the total vote will
tlv exceed 10,000 ballots out of
that were mailed to dealers
“2, United State*. That the
‘Jrtelmmg plurality of voters
titered opposition to the bill >s
S id both in the straw vote
.Girted by Ai’Tomotiv* Nkws and
admission by NADA before
L Federal Trade Commission
J its count showed the tally
inc 10 to 1 against. What of
fremaining 30,000 dealers in the
"try who were not sufficiently
Treated to take time to mark
« X’s on a ballot and drop it in
j™ mail? We cannot conclude that
vv want regulation, or else they
nuld have voted for it. Nor can we
include that they do not want regu-
S. for they did not vote against
. Aeainst this blank wall one won
« whether it is fair to assume
at this inarticulate mass is
Mob, numb or merely complacent
nth things as they are. This lat-
f rconclusion would seem illogical,
oce if this group is satisfied with
tags as they are they would have
against regulation but not
tsarily for it. Hence the selec
of adjectives to describe this
-oup seems limited to thd one or
oth of the first two -dumb or
jimb.
* * *
It is difficult to fit these deal
,n into any pattern, but by their
,rn choice they seem not to care
»tich way the wind blows. Now
4 those who have expressed
temaelves against legislation or
filiation, I feel that it would be
jdte unfair to assume that they
ill are satisfied with conditions
■ they exist Many whom I have
liked to can see no remedy for
iment ills (about which they
amplain) through government
regulation of any sort They do
M confident that improvement
said come through co-operation
between dealers and factories. I
ikre this confidence, but 1
onetime* question whether this
tuinm of factory-dealer rela
tena is not too often emphasized
l the exclusion of all other
fetor*.
• * *
Protecting In vest m ent
I CAN fully agree with dealers
that many things can be done
long the lines of factory-dealer
bhtions that would greatly help
ie dealer. For instance, there is
question of a term contract,
•nder the old 90-day cancellation
»uje contract, dealers tell me that
are Inclined to do many things
Hinst their judgment in order to
fotect their investment. It seems
ifical to me that any businessman
'bo has no assurance of remaining
• business beyond a 90-day period
1 likely to lose sight of the long
aul possibilities of his business in
Wer to protect his immediate
**<l* On the other hand, it should
* understood that in entering into
iterra contract of longer duration
factories are entitled to some
Section against avoidable de
, * in their volume in the terri
-2 “nder contract. They should
J*® nave protection in cases where
“Juers voluntarily terminate their
contracts and still insist the
them cars for a given
.7; time. There should also
finite stipulations as to what
to * 8 breach of contract so
volume sales are concerned.
of course, gets us hack
long argument about
y P"*»ure. To me the dis
between “pressure” and
kT*/ »«lling aggressiveness”
ks difficult to de
bg °* the human ele
sm „ ,r * * nto this that what
a, l e r ®*aure” to one dealer
t»anotK« n ° r, “ a Kgrea»lveness”
biet, fc-.r a bilateral con
. un derstoo<l by both
nsUo, administe red with
k b« "ould seem
'•Hog c*rt*fni* W ® r here ’
e *rtainly could not decree
conditions with faft-ness to either
side. Probably this would lead
to a more careful discrimination
in the appointment of outlets by
the factory, and the result would
unquestionably lead to much
weeping and wailing and gnash
ing of teeth among those dealers
who, in the opinion of factory
executives, might fail to live up
to the new standards. From what
dealers tell me there are quite a
number of “other” dealers now
in the fold who would fall by the
wayside.
* * *
Pressure , Pro and Con
PRESSURE, of course, is blamed
for the majority of ills within
the industry, such as over-allow
ances, wild-trading, etc. There have
been times, however, when the
pressure was relieved and the ills
remained unabated. This was true
in many cases last fall during the
Chrysler strike when no pressure
could have existed. Now it seems
to me more or less inconsistent to
ask factories to exert pressure on
dealers to stop them from doing
things wrong of their own volition,
when at the same time we are com
plaining about factory pressure ex
erted for other purposes. To sum
it up, I think dealers themselves
possess a considerable amount of
pressure which they could exert
right in their own field to help im
prove conditions there. To me,
most efforts in the past seem to
have been directed at battling fac
tory policies at their sources rather
than attempting to ameliorate their
effects in the field. It is something
like rubbing liniment on your fore
head to aid a pain from a sprained
back, on the assumption that, since
the head is the seat of the brain
and the brain the center of sensa
tion, a more complete cure can be
effected in that way.
* * *
Now there is another ogre in
our field, who has been named by
his competitor as the fringe deal
er. He has no particular
definition, his names
are varied and picturesque.
Every competitor calls him by a
different title in ratio to the de
gree of his early religious train
ing. I have no brief for the fac
tory or its representatives that
appoint with deliberation a com
petitive outlet within any dealer's
bailiwick for the sheer purpose
of putting pressure on the dealer
already there or to increase the
penetration of a market on an
uneconomic basis. But we must
remember that the merchandising
of automobiles is no different
from any human endeavor and is
constantly undergoing change.
Not the least contributing factor
to this change has been the auto
mobile itself. Look at your flour
ishing roadside stands. What
have tourist camps done to es
tablished hotels and summer
“boarding houses?” Do we any
longer depend upon the corner
grocer when with our car we can
drive a few miles to a super
market and save money?
* * *
“ Cringe ” Dealer
NOT so many years ago the auto
mobile dealership was a mam
moth monument of stone and glass
on the main boulevard. Prospects
flocked there to buy because no
other outlet was available. That
was the style of the times. Today
by driving a few miles out of town,
buyers can do their car shopping
through a dealer who has lower
overhead, whose service department
seems never over-crowded and
whose prices are lower. Now to
the dealer still in town this outlet
no doubt is a “fringe” dealer. Yet
this fringe dealer is selling more
cars and making more money per
car than his competitor in town.
I think it is a fair question to ask
if we should look down our noses
at such an outlet when and if it is
making money and satisfying its
customers from the standpoint of
service and prices, while at the
same time doing a greater volume
of business? Perhaps all this is a
(Continued on Page 15. Col. 4)
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS, MARCH 30, 1040
Wash. Dealers Hit Patman Bill
Voice Opposition
To FTC’s Rules;
Anderson Elected
By D. M. Trepp
Staff Correspondent
SEATTLE. Opposition to both
the Patman-Horner regulatory bill
and the federal trade commission’s
proposed fair practice code was ex
pressed by delegates to the annual
convention of the Washington
Automotive Trade Assn, here last
week.
The more than 100 dealers pres
ent also went on record as favor
ing the conference-table method
for improving factory-dealer rela
tionships. Delegates also urged:
A uniform national price policy
in the retailing of new cars.
Freight rate reductions on auto
mobiles shipped to the Far West.
Mid-winter introduction of new
models.
M. O. Anderson, head of Ander
son Buick Co., Seattle, was re
elected president. Carl Heussy,
association attorney and manager,
was re-elected secretary-treasurer,
with others elected as follows:
t H. Ernest Majer, first vice-presi
dent; Ross Lynch, second vice
president; Arthur St. John, third
vice-president.
The board of directors will meet
in the near future to map out a
legislative program, since the state
solons convene next January.
The business meeting convened
at the Olympic Bowl. James H.
Cassell, manager of Oregon Auto
mobile Dealers Assn., spoke on
"The Wage and Hour Law.”
George B. Wallace, president of
the Oregon association, and R. A.
Mueller, of Tacoma, vice-president
of the Washington-^.association,
spoke on “Recent National Devel
opments.” Heussy discussed the
FTC code.
M. P. Trenne, manager of the
Montana Automobile Dealers
Assn., was the guest speaker at the
banquet session. “Federal Regu
lation in Business” was his topic.
He sketched growth of federal en
croachments and pleaded for a
halt.
Taking a firm stand against
more governmental regulation and
control of business, Trenne while
condemning some factory policies,
declared he would rather take his
chances with the factories than
with federal interference with free
enterprise.
In other resolutions adopted at
the convention, retail price main
tenance, territory protection, high
way safety, tax reduction, quality
dealer standards, condemnation of
giving discounts to insurance com
panies, and packing or padding of
finance charges, positions hereto
fore taken, were re-affirmed.
A ray of hope for still further
improvement is noted in this reso
lution: “Whereas the association is
appreciative of the fact that im
provements have been made in
dealer contracts, but whereas, even
with such improvements, the great
majority of dealers are still losing
money on combined new and used
car departments, now therefore, be
it resolved that the automobile
manufacturers take steps to im
prove the method of retailing auto
mobiles by requiring each dealer to
make a net profit on combined new
and used car departments."
Strong dissapproval of the prac
tice of manufacturers selling di
rectly to governments and govern
mental agencies, federal, state and
JK »■
ONE OF TIIKKK new N*<• h ron\ertit>le model, ju.t announred. All of the
ear. .eat .lx pernon. romfortalil), three in a full-width auxiliary .eat. .Shown
here, with Anne (iwjnnc and Helen Parri.h, of I niter.al Picture., I. the liijc
Ambassador Fight convertible, senior member of the line. The two other car.
in the group are the Na.h l.aFavette and the Na.h Ambassador Six. Top. of
the convertible, drop down ea.ily into a boot that i. streamlined Into the
contour of the body lines.
DeSoto Dealers Hooted . . .
'' . ivaaiiL..
V v ; §4"
Bp ' W ■ _
DI KIN'); Til K VISIT in Detroit last week of DeSoto dealer, from the
Pitt.burgh area, factory official, played host at the Detroit-Leland hotel. Part
of the ceremony wa. serving special portion, of gravy to leading salesmen
and dealer, in the factory’s current .ale. contest. Left to right are C . r,.
Itlelcher, vice-president and general manager of DeSoto; K. K. Laughney, dealer
from Pittsburgh, and L. U. Peed, vice-president in charge of sales.
-jJIHKi
OTHFRS ATTENDING the DeSoto meeting In Detroit were F. N. Hen*, left,
and C. 11. Eisenbeis, right, of Allegheny Motors, Pittsburgh.
Cadillac-LaSalle March Sales
Set New Mark for Period
DETROIT. Record - breaking
sales are reported by Cadillac-La-
Salle for the second 10 days of
March. Figures released by
Nicholas Dreystadt, general man
ager, show domestic deliveries of
1,515 topped last year by 73 per
cent and the best previous similar
period (Mar. 10-20, 1937,) by five
percent.
"The new sales peak develops at
a particularly appropriate time,"
Dreystadt said. "Factory sales de
partment executives are now in
the field preparing for one of our
most extensive spring campaigns.
The impetus afforded by these con
ferences with dealers and salesmen
local, was voiced in another resolu
tion.
Further increases in motor
vehicle taxes were attacked.
Of particular interest to the
Northwest was the resolution ask
ing freight rate reductions, it being
stated that "exorbitant freight
rates lead to many abuses, such as
bootlegging, caravanning, etc.”
Steps necessary to bring about
lower rail freight rates were advo
cated.
A resolution / offered from the
floor, whidf'-was enthusiastically
adopted, urged that every possible
step be taken by the NADA and
the AMA to bring about a determi
nation that the great majority of
car dealers are not in interstate
commerce and not under the wage
and hour act.
is added assurance of a continua
tion of our current upward busi
ness trend.”
With a number of major retail
automotive markets already cov
ered, the Cadillac-LaSalle spring
sales meetings resume next week
in Los Angeles and Detroit.
Clare D. Wight,
Pioneer in Trade
Journalism, Dies
DETROIT—CIare D. Wight, 61,
secretary of Automobile Topics and
a pioneer in the automotive trade
publishing field,
@died late Thurs
day afternoon in
Harper Hospital
here, following
an illness of more
than six months.
Mr. Wight was
born in Buffalo
Mar. 21, 1879. He
was the tenth
lineal descendant
of Thomas Wight,
Clare D. Wight who migrated to
this country from
England in 1637. He came of a line
of journalists and publishers, his
grandfather Amos Wight having
founded the Lake Shore Mirror in
Silver Creek, N. Y. in 1850. His
father, Don A. Wight, was associ
ated with the Buffalo Commercial
for 35 years.
Mr. Wight entered the publishing
business as office boy for the
Buffalo Express in 1893. He spent
11 years in the business and adver
tising departments of that paper,
and entered the trade paper field
in 1904. He came to Detroit in 1905
as western advertising representa
tive of Motor World and Motor
Cycle. In 1911 he joined Frank W.
Roche in the publication of Auto
mobile Topics. As secretary of that
publication he has been prominent
in motor car and accessory manu
facturing circles for nearly 30
years.
He was an active or honorary
member of most of the automotive
trade associations and societies.
Funeral services will be held Sat
urday in the chapel of the William
R. Hamilton company here. Inter
ment will be in Montclair, N. J.
3