Word: subcompacts
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...medium-sized Matador is a strong seller. To improve its sales, American must strengthen its dealerships. So far this year 262 dealers have dropped out, reducing American's network to 2,031 showrooms. American's biggest handicap is styling problems. Consumer Reports noted that, among the new subcompact cars, the Gremlin "has the tightest rear seat, rear wheel traction is poor, and [the car] is relatively clumsy to handle...
...change will be evident on all of Detroit's new cars: the price. That will rise, from a modest increase of $99 for the subcompact Chevrolet Vega to an increase of $584 for the Cadillac Fleetwood limousine. Industry spokesmen insist that the higher prices, which will probably come to an average of just under 5%, are the result of the inflationary pressures of increased labor costs and the posted price hikes in steel...
Consolation Level. Last week Detroit threw some reserves into the sales battle. Pontiac unveiled its first small car, the Ventura II, built on the same 111-in. wheelbase chassis as Chevy's compact Nova. Ford introduced a second model of its front-running Pinto subcompact, a "runabout" that has an upward-opening rear door much like the Vega's or Gremlin's. Increased supplies of the Vega may help to curtail sales of imports too; Chevy still has not reached its goal of building 1,600 Vegas a day, but hopes to do so in late March...
...demands, accept restrictive labor practices and pass on the increased costs to their customers. But many other industries?notably autos, steel and chemicals?run grave risks of losing markets when they kick prices up. Foreign automakers already build 15% of the cars that Americans buy. G.M.'s new Vega subcompact, which was designed to compete against the Volkswagen, had to be priced $211 higher than the Beetle. Other companies, similarly pressed, are shifting operations overseas for cheaper labor. The production of most typewriters, sewing machines and radios has been moved abroad...
...have been less belligerent than Roche's tough words would indicate. At the Norwood, Ohio, Chevrolet assembly plant, workers staged a nine-day go-slow without audible protest from General Motors. Last week a jurisdictional strike halted work at the Lordstown plant, the home of G.M.'s subcompact, the Vega 2300. Normally, says Woodcock, the company would be "kicking and screaming and disciplining right and left. Now they're just taking it. This is unheard...