Profit for Euthrie

The U. S. motorcycle business is divided equally between Indian Motorcycle Co. of Springfield, Mass, and Harley-Davidson Motor Co. of Milwaukee. The first U. S. motorcycle, little more than a bicycle with a motor in a frame, was built by Indian in 1900, is now in the Smithsonian Institution. Since 1927 Indian has had only two profitable years, 1936 ($80,048) and 1937 ($118,606). But last week Indian found itself in a new situation--with domestic sales up 200% over 1929, with eight-month profits of $65,705, with deliveries 30 days behind, with 350 new employes in training so as to step up output to 100 machines a day by next week.

This renaissance was welcome to Indian's brown-haired, brown-eyed, sports-mad President Euthrie Paul du Pont, cousin to Pierre Samuel du Pont, chairman of Du Pont de Nemours. In 1929, after failing to crack the high-priced auto field with his Du Pont car, Euthrie bought a controlling interest in floundering Indian. Engineer, mechanic, collector of salty jokes & limericks, Du Pont was nuts about motorboating, airplaning, etc. His method of pushing Indian was to promote such enthusiasm for motorcycles.

Result was that last year the American Motorcycle Association (sponsored jointly by Indian and Harley-Davidson) had 20,500 paid-up members, plus 900 paid-up clubs, held over 2,000 contests (hill-climbing, racing, etc.) before some 5,000,000 spectators. This promotion makes the motorcycle market. Last year Indian sold around $1,500,000 worth of motorcycles, of which 75% were for sport, 15% commercial, 10% for police and military use. This year's streamlined Indian "Style Blazers," two to four cylinders,weighing 350 to 625 Ibs., sell for $250 to $540 apiece (list price), claim 85 m.p.h., up to 90 miles on a gallon of gas.

Boast of President Du Pont, whose six sons are also cycle enthusiasts, is that Indian's 1939 boom is independent of World War II, is completely domestic. So it is. The U. S. Army, which used 40,000 motorcycles in World War I, has not been in the market. But on top of the 200% increase in domestic sales, France six weeks ago put in a $2,000,000 order for 5,000 motorcycles for the French Army, which is considerably more than Indian's total net sales for 1938, may give the company its best year ever.

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