Word: repairs
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...original engineering brains and Packard as a fiercely dynamic manager, the company has become the world's largest maker of electronic measuring devices. In the postwar era of computers, television and solid-state circuitry, its sales have grown to $269 million annually. It is a rare U.S. TV repair shop that does not use Hewlett-Packard equipment to detect picture-tube defects...
...last week's hearing, the Senators were particularly disturbed by the discrepancy between prices for work covered by auto manufacturers' warranties and prices on nonwarranty jobs. The automakers pay for the warranty work and they allow the repairman only a 25% profit margin. But on other repair jobs, the markup runs 40% and more. Garages also tend to offer discounts to such big customers as insurance companies and auto-fleet owners. Volume discounts, of course, are common in all U.S. businesses, but Michigan Senator Philip Hart, the subcommittee chairman, wondered "whether the cash customer is subsidizing the privileged...
...sell cars rather than provide service. Auto manufacturers, who were not asked to testify, argue that 95% of their dealers provide adequate service but admit that the other 5% can give the whole business a sour reputation. Car dealers insist that they average less than 1% profit on repair work. Other repair shops, said Robert Straub, president of the Independent Garage Owners of America, "are struggling to stay alive"but his testimony rang rather hollow after the reports of the steep markups...
Toward Simpler Cars. What can be done? Hart recommended that states start licensing mechanics, a move that might give motorists some protection against shoddy work. He also suggested that the Government might invoke antitrust laws against some auto-repair practices, notably that of charging higher rates for nonwarranty work. But most of the work is done at scattered, independent garages, which are hard to control. Spokesmen for them argue that drivers must be prepared to pay even higher fees if the shops are to attract and hold reliable mechanics...
...company officer says, "the mechanics won't come to us." And Detroit also has plans for a longer-term solution. Within the next two years, Ford, G.M., and American Motors all intend to bring out cars that will be smaller, cheaper, less complex-and, presumably, easier to repair than existing models...