MOTOR-CAR PRICES.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 October 1920, Page 5

MOTOR-CAR PRICES.

CABLED REDUCTION NOT CON, FIRMED. NO PROBABILITY OF LOWER PRICES. No confirmation of the reduction in prices of several well-known makes of American motor-cars, cabled during last week, has been received in Wellington. Mr. P. F. Cooper, direct representative of the General Motors Corporations, U.S.A. (who controls a number of manufacturing concerns), informed a representative of The Post that he had received a cablegram from New York, dated 27th September, later than the press messages, in which it was definitely stated that no reduction had been made on any of the general motor products. He was of opinion that there was no real foundation for the rumors circulated. There could be no hope of reduced prices until labor and material, which made up 00 per cent of the cost of a car, could be obtained at a lower figure. Manufacturing costs could hardly be reduced unless the two main factors could he cut down in price. Of that there did not appear to be much probability at the time he left New York on the 24tli August The so-called slump in prices in America amounted to practically nothing. A few of the dry goods people got ft scare and reduced their prices for a few days. They were soon back at the old rate, and a bit higher, and nobody benefited much. If there were any reductions in the prices of cars the first people to get the benefit would be the outside markets) for it was the policy of the American manufacturer to look after his export trade. Rises iji cost of production wer£[ not, as a rule, passed on to the buyer outside of America until the American public had already been paying enhanced rates. Mr. Cooper did not think that prices would ever come down to their pre-'war figures. Over-production was the only factor likely to bring them down, and there were no indications of that in the United States. Readjustment of prices would in any case, in his opinion, come gradually, as after previous wars.