Prices: Up

In showrooms around the U.S., customers last week took a look at the 1957 models and reached for their pocketbooks. Chevrolet dealers reported that sales were running 10% to 15% ahead of last year; Ford said dealers' new-car orders for delivery this year had already passed $1 billion. There, seemed little sales resistance to the increase in Ford and Chevy factory list prices. Last week General Motors announced rises on the rest of its cars, due out in a few weeks.

Pontiac price rises vary from $100 to $280 per car, Oldsmobile's from $132 to $284, Buick's from $168 to $264. Cadillac increases range from $348 to a high of $644 on the top-priced Fleetwood "Seventy-Five," the biggest price hike in the industry so far.

Chrysler announced increases slightly less than G.M.'s, with Dodge ranging from $64 to $175 per car, and Plymouth from $66 to $160. Plymouth, which in the past has sold for slightly more than Ford and Chevy, hiked its prices less to become more competitive.

Two smaller makes bucked the industry trend and cut prices. To stimulate lagging

Nash sales (output down 60% this year) and Hudson's (output down 67%), American Motors trimmed $236 to $331 off Nash prices, $329 to $378 off Hudson's. On the six-cylinder Ramblers, where demand had held up, American followed the industry pattern, raised prices an average 5.35%, or $80 to $117 per model.

Two more new models came out last week. By adding a lower-priced Firesweep series to its regular Fireflite and Firedome models, De Soto amassed a total of 15 models, largest in its 28-year history. The Firesweep will have a shorter wheelbase than the other two (122 in. v. 126), and less horsepower (a 245-h.p. V-8 engine v. 270 h.p. on the stepped-up Firedome V8, 295 h.p. on the stepped-up Fireflite). Otherwise, De Sotos have the other new Chrysler features, such as soaring rear fenders and a low silhouette.

Studebaker pinned its hopes on a face lift: new wraparound grilles and rear bumpers, plus a longer look--2 in. added to sedans, almost 6 in. to station wagons. The company plans to raise Studebaker output at least 17.5% to 103,000 units in 1957, will show its Packard in December at the New York Auto Show.

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