Word: automen
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Scowls at Style. Last week, to the surprise of unflamboyant automen, American Motors' board elected Evans as chairman. He succeeded Richard E. Cross, who became chairman of the executive committee in order to devote more time to his Detroit law practice. A.M.C.'s crusty Roy Abernethy remained as president and chief executive, but Evans quickly made it obvious that he intends to be the new giver of gospel. While Abernethy scowled at a press conference and puffed a six-inch cigar down to the stub, Evans committed the automaking heresy of knocking the styling of his company...
Speaking for the industry, Ford Vice President John Bugas told a House committee that the automen now not only "strongly endorse" the bill, but also would like to see Congress give the soon-to-be-created Secretary of Transportation the power to set up "legally binding" safety standards. At the same time, said Bugas, the Secretary should ensure Detroit and the states a part in setting safety standards, and should not make such standards mandatory without "reasonable efforts to arrive at a meeting of minds...
Detroit traditionally has stressed style and speed in automobiles ahead of safe ty. But considering the carnage on the highways (49,000 traffic deaths last year), and under continued pressure from the Government, the industry has been moving gradually to make cars safer. Last week the automen took an other step. General Motors announced that it is adding two new safety features as standard equipment on all its ]967 models, which will appear this fall...
...switches are important because automen believe that each rental car is a rolling showroom for their products. "It's one helluva demonstrator," says Fred C. Zimmerman Jr., general marketing manager for Ford's Lincoln-Mercury division. "There is no salesman riding along, and nobody bothers the guy. The car practically sells itself." The auto companies help pay the costs of any rent-a-car ad that plugs their cars by name; one reason Hertz is switching to Ford is that Chevrolet declined to pay more of mutual advertising costs, while Ford offered to pay a generous half. Rental...
...their cars before the eyes as well as into the hands of potential customers, the automen keep hundreds of new cars in Hollywood, lend them to studios for a year in return for a guarantee that they will be used in movies and TV shows. A new Lincoln was squeezed into a tiny cube by a giant press in the James Bond movie Goldfinger; the villain who arranged the crush-out to get rid of a rival carted off the metal remains in, of all things, a Ford "Ranchero" pickup truck! Chrysler has signed agreements with no less than...