Automobile Facts Of Interest

Most Americans take for granted that Henry Ford solved these problems by inventing the automobile around that time. In fact, he did not. The gas engine was already invented 35 years earlier and early versions of horseless carriages were evident in Europe and in this country before the first Ford came about. In fact, this year we celebrate the earliest continuing automobile nameplate, "Oldsmobile", created by Ransom Olds 100 years ago.

What Henry Ford did was create a marketing and distribution strategy, later complemented by the effectiveness of assembly line production, that in 25 years produced 25 million automobiles and enough road surface to drive them on.

America's love/hate relationship with the automobile was successfully launched by Ford, Walter Chrysler, John and Horace Dodge, Henry and Wilfred Leland (Cadillac & Lincoln), Will Durant (General Motors), David Buick, Studebaker, Kaiser, Tucker, DeLorean, and a number of other automobile pioneers. Some of these names are still enshrined on the nameplates of automobiles that move over our roads and highways today.

• Henry Ford did not invent the automobile.
• On average 15,000,000 cars and trucks are manufactured and sold in the United States every year.
• 50,000,000 automobiles are produced annually worldwide.
• 30,000,000 used automobiles change hands each year in the United States.
• The sale of automobiles constitutes a $640,000,000,000 (that's 640 billion) industry in the United States. If parts and service are added---a trillion dollar industry---the largest.
• Automotive workers overseas no longer make less money than American auto workers. German and Japanese automakers both make more per hour.
• There are over 22,000 dealer organizations* competing for the business of the American consumer. They are responsible for the sale of 15,000,000 new vehicles and over 10,000,000 used vehicles annually, (35% of all used cars sold).
  * The number has been in steady decline. Dealer organizations are expected to be reduced considerably over the next 5 years.
• The average new car dealer has not made a profit from the sale of new cars over the past seven years, while American automaker profits have skyrocketed over the past five years.
• The average price of a comparative automobile is four times higher than it was 20 years ago.
• The average price of a comparative television set is half the price it was 20 years ago.
• Automobile cartels (investor owned corporations) are currently eroding the number of privately owned dealer businesses.
• Automakers are attempting to drastically and artificially reduce the number of privately owned dealer businesses.
• Reduced competition in the automobile marketplace means higher prices for the consumer.
• Open Competition regulates the price of an automobile to a level satisfactory to the buyer and the seller. It is capable of weeding out inefficient dealers at the same time.
• Autoserv America is in business to:
  • reduce the cost of buying automobiles
  • reduce the cost of selling automobiles
  • develop a better relationship between buyers and sellers of automobiles
• Membership in our Fair Dealer Network^TM evidences the dealer's desire to meet the challenges of the automobile marketplace. Their success is ultimately to the benefit of the consumer.
• Over 200 million cars are on our roads today.
• The average commuter spends ten 40-hour weeks in their automobile each year or nearly 10% of their entire waking hours each year.
• Most cars today are not used for commuting or vacation travel.
• Over two/thirds of vehicle use is for chauffeuring and shopping.
• Half of all households own two or more automobiles.
• During the last ten years as many lives were lost in automobile accidents on American roadways as were lost in armed conflict during World War II, Korea and the war in Vietnam.
• Drive carefully.

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