Autos: Down

Said a used-car dealer in Chicago: "Let's face it. Business is terrible." For the last six months, business has been terrible for many used-car dealers because of: 1) enormous new car production, and 2) tightened credit on used cars. In Cleveland, used-car lots were crowded with 25,000 cars, twice as many as this time last year. In Dallas, Buicks that were selling for $2,195 in March were going for $1,695; and 1951 Chevrolets were down from $1,595 to $1,195. Prices in New Orleans had slumped an average $150 since May (e.g., a 1952 Ford with heater, radio and overdrive was being offered for $1,695; a 1947 Mercury for $375).

In Los Angeles, the nation's No. 1 auto market, sales were the slowest in eight years. In Miami, where prices have dropped an average 35% in the last year, some 50 dealers have gone out of business.

To unload their lots, some harried dealers resorted to all sorts of come-ons. Customers were promised everything from a $10,000 life-insurance policy (one year prepaid) and a 125-piece silver-plated service to 200 gallons of gas free with every car costing over $1,000. A Chicago dealer advertised a '41 Chevrolet for $175, and "this '42 for a penny." A Dallas dealer reduced the price of a car every three hours until it was sold. A Los Angeles salesman promised a 25-by-100-foot lot (including mineral and oil rights) with every used car vintage 1946 to 1953. At other West Coast dealers, the buyer of a good used car could often get a prewar model thrown in for another dollar.

But in some parts of the U.S. there were signs that the worst was over. In Detroit and New York, business has picked up. One reason was that Detroit's car makers sent representatives around the country, urging dealers to get rid of their huge stocks at any cost. Those who took the advice often took heavy losses, but they cleared out old cars, freed tied-up cash, and put their dealerships on a sound basis. To dramatize the campaign, the Metropolitan Chevrolet Dealers of Detroit organized a "Funeral Parade" of jalopies, towed 35 old cars through the streets and burned them.

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