Sproutings

With spring come sproutings of ideas about the motor car industry --from salesmen of cars and of securities and from men in the street:

That manufacturers not allied with General Motors or with Ford are about to merge for protection. Gossip, totally unverified, connects Packard, Dodge, Chrysler, Mack trucks, Fierce-Arrow,, Hudson and Chandler-Cleveland as potential factors of some such coalition. The kernel of fact is that promoters are constantly putting propositions to manufacturers, ideas which usually dissolve to nothing.

That Ford Motor Co. proposes to produce a gearshift car very soon. The basis for this rumor is the Ford inquiry made to equipment manufacturers about the prices of new, special machinery. That Ford Motor Co. plans to make a cheap six-cylinder car. This idea Ford officials have flatly denied. That motor car manufacturers this year will seek to buy up or at least control the tire manufacturers who supply original equipment. The logic of this is sound; the motor maker with a tire subsidiary cuts his costs. Ford Motor Co. is already making a great share of its tires at Highland Park, Mich., in spite of its cordial relations with Firestone Tire & Rubber. Goodyear, still controlled by Clarence Dillon, supplies Dodge Bros., which he also controls. Goodrich, while it remains under the domination of Bertram G. Work, will persist a unique entity. And it is not probable that U. S. Tire, which once sought to be the "trust" of the rubber industry, will become subordinate to any motor manufacturer. But smaller rubber companies could be bought up, notably, according to discussions, Ajax Rubber. That William Crapo Durant will do something surprising. Last week he had this advertisement inserted in the Long Island City Star (circulation: 22,297): Durant Back on the Job A. most significant event in motor car affairs is the return of W. C. Durant to active participation in his motor interests. Now fully recovered from his serious illness of a year ago* he proposes to devote his entire time (with every other interest secondary) to a thoroughly constructive motor car program that will duplicate his previous and widely known accomplishments in this field. His first effort will be largely devoted to the aggressive promotion of the Star Six line.

*He was hurt in a train wreck (TIME, Feb. 1, 1926).