Word: pricing
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...m.p.g. -and nearly two feet longer, measuring 179 in. from its broad nose to its short tail. But the Maverick is also several inches shorter than such "compacts" as Ford's Falcon, which has grown to 184 in. in length and $2,283 in price. Partly because more and more Americans want smaller and less costly cars, imports have swelled from 52,000 in 1955 to 986,000 last year, when they accounted for more than 10% of the 9.4 million sold in the U.S. As lacocca told TIME'S Detroit Bureau Chief Don Sider...
Plenty of hard compromises had to be made on the Maverick. Anything that added to style, size or performance raised the list price. In the fervid debates among Ford's engineers, stylists and cost accountants, lacocca was the final arbiter. The accountants wanted plain gray upholstery; lacocca ordered bright plaids, though the decision increased the price of each car by several dollars. He ordered the body made wide enough so that six passengers could squeeze in in a pinch. "I could have taken a slice down the middle of that car, maybe three inches, still gotten four people...
Ford offers a variety of options-including a 120-h.p. engine, automatic shift and air conditioning-that can jack up the price as high as $2,700. But the company has urged dealers to discourage sales of the high-markup options so as not to price the car out of its market. How does the car handle...
Volkswagen executives figure-or at least hope-that the new U.S. small cars will not cut deeply into sales of imports but will take markets away from existing U.S. lower-priced models. To reduce their own chances of loss, some foreign producers will send bigger and fancier models to the U.S. Later this year, for example, VW will begin shipping its four-door Audi (U.S. price: around $4,000). Sweden's Saab will soon begin importing a new Maverick-sized car. "If Detroit can come into our market," says Stuart Perkins, head of Volkswagen of America...
French workers are eager for wage increases to cover cost-of-living increases. Prices have been rising by an annual rate of about 6%, faster than in any other Common Market country. Consumer costs have been swollen further by huge tax increases designed to dampen demand. Inflation has debased the currency to the point where, for the first time in years, black marketeers are selling francs for stronger money at discounts of 5% or more. The economy's weakness has so greatly affected the country's political power the French are no longer campaigning in world banking councils...