Year of Decision

"I've seen the competition's cars and I've seen ours," chortled a San Francisco Chrysler dealer last week. "We're headed for a terrific year." Around the U.S., Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler dealers were getting their first 1957 models, and to a man they were wreathed in smiles. For the first time in years, they thought that Chrysler Corp. had a better-than-even chance to cut into the lead of Ford and General Motors right down the line. At a cost of some $300 million for new models, Chrysler was making an all-out effort with its 1957 models to get-back in the thick of the auto race.

In Chrysler's 1957 line, every car is new from grille to tailfins, is lower and sportier-looking. To go with the design changes, Chrysler has bigger engines, a new "Torque-Flite" automatic transmission with three speeds instead of two, a new "Torsion-Aire" suspension system for a smoother ride and better cornering.

P:Plymouth has a 48-h.p. boost, to 235 h.p., in the big "Fury" V-8 engine, a 3-in.-longer wheel base (118 in.), and is so low that one dealer cracked: "If the price is as low as the car, we can't lose."

P:Dodge has 80-h.p. boost, to 310 h.p., on its biggest "Red Ram" V-8 engine, and a longer (122-in. wheel base), lower (57 in.) body.

P:DeSoto has a 40-h.p. boost, to 290 h.p., brand-new styling, and a third, lower-priced model called the Firesweep, in order to compete better against Mercury, medium-priced Oldsmobile and Buick.

P:Chrysler, which along with the company's highest-priced Imperial line, goes up 45 h.p., to a top 325 h.p., has another 31 in. chopped off the height (down to 57 in.) but no change from last year's 126-in. wheel base. Like DeSoto, Chrysler will add a third line, the Saratoga, which will fit in between its Windsor and high-priced New Yorker lines as competition for the big Buicks and Oldsmobiles.

"Grow or Die." How well the new cars go over may well determine the company's whole future. No one knows better than President L. L. ("Tex") Colbert the one inviolate axiom of the auto industry: Grow or die. So far, Chrysler has slowly been weakening. After the poor 1954 model, which dropped Chrysler's share of the market; to a bare 12.9%, a succession of new designs and higher-powered cars in 1955 and 1956 have only won back a 16.5% share of the market. But in 1957, Chrysler will be loaded for bear. Cautiously, Colbert himself says only that "our sales targets have been projected on the basis of an expected steadily increasing demand for our products." But Chrysler's brass clearly expects at least a 20% slice in 1957.

With its advanced styling and scheduled $1 billion expansion program, the company thinks it has solved its product and plant problems. Though Chrysler has not released prices yet, it hints broadly that they will be more competitive in 1957, especially Plymouth, which will probably average smaller boosts than Ford or Chevrolet (TIME, Oct. 22). The big remaining problem is still Chrysler's dealer organization. Chrysler dealers have been slow to make attractive deals, hesitate to switch over from old-fashioned high markup on a small number of sales to low markup on high volume.

Three, Not One. To pep up its dealer organization, Chrysler is working on a plan to set up separate dealerships for Plymouth, currently sold by Chrysler, Dodge and DeSoto dealers, will also put together a corporate marketing organization under Automotive Group Vice President William C. Newberg. It will bring top management closer to dealers, try to take some of the load off divisional and regional sales managers. Says one Chrysler executive: "We want them to sell three cars and make $100 on each rather than sell one car and try to make $300."

Watching Chrysler's struggles, Detroit's automen are almost as anxious for success as the company itself. For one thing, topflight competition has always resulted in a bigger overall auto market. For another, both Ford and General Motors are worried about monopoly charges by the Justice Department if Chrysler's percentage of auto sales should slip. Chrysler is determined to set their minds at ease. Growls blunt-talking Edgar C. Row, former boss of Chrysler Corp. of Canada, who took over the No. 2 spot under Tex Colbert last July: "From now on, every s.o.b. who sells another make of car is our enemy."

Two other 1957 entries last week: P: Mercury, which spent $100 million on design, engineering and tooling, has finally broken completely away from Ford with a new body of its own based on the experimental XM-Turnpike Cruiser. Mercury will be 5 in. longer, 3 in. wider and 4 in. lower than last year's model, is going in for upswept tailfins and higher horsepower, with a boost from 225 h.p. to 290 h.p. in the biggest V-8 engine. Some other changes: a pushbutton automatic transmission control and the auto industry's first air-cushion rear suspension, which cushions road shocks with two tiny, air-filled tires mounted vertically at the front of each rear spring.

P:Hudson, which follows the industry trend to sportier style with a flashy, V-shaped grille, sweeping tailfins and a lower top that cuts overall height 2 in., to 60 in. Biggest engineering change: a new V-8 engine for the Hudson Hornet, which turns up 255 h.p., 35 h.p. more than last year, with a four-barrel carburetor and dual exhausts as standard equipment.

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