Happy New Year?

For Detroit's automakers, the new year begins in late summer and early autumn when, after much spying and speculation, new models are introduced. Thus, last week was New Year as the first of the '67s were presented. They came, as always, wrapped in a package of optimism about buyer acceptance and total sales. This year the optimism was more remarkable because of the sales year that the auto companies have just been through.

There were plenty of reasons for frustration about the '66 model year. For one thing, the war in Viet Nam removed thousands of young men and potential customers from the new car market. For another, the nation's tight-money policy made it harder--and more expensive--to buy a car on credit. Most of all, there was the great safety furor, spearheaded by Lawyer-Author Ralph Nader. At one point in July, the inventory of unsold autos, mostly as a result of customer scares over safety, reached 1,700,000, and manufacturers were forced to cut back drastically on production schedules.

Gains & Losses. So far during '66, total auto sales have dropped 4.3% from 1965. Ford and Chrysler have both been able to show minuscule gains, but General Motors, with nearly half the market, is off 7.5%, and struggling American Motors Corp. is down by 18.5%. Despite such frustrations, 1966 should go down in Detroit history as the industry's second-best sales year.

On that note the industry enters '67.

Because auto men's ears are still stinging from the safety hearings, it will be the year in which safety gets equal billing with styling and performance. Dual brakes will be standard equipment on the '67s. So will "anchorages" --to which car owners can attach shoulder harnesses, which are supposed to be more effective than current seat belts (when the harnesses themselves will become standard is still uncertain). G.M., Chrysler and A.M.C. will introduce steering columns that collapse, accordion-fashion, under impact, thereby lessening the danger of chest and abdominal injuries to drivers. Ford has a somewhat similar device and, beginning with the 1969 model year, will start producing cars with collapsible front ends designed to crumple systematically and cushion collisions.

Styling & Sport. Yet for all the increased emphasis on safety, there is still plenty of room for style. In Los Angeles last week, Chrysler President Lynn Townsend was the first in the industry to unveil his '67s officially. Chrysler's stylists have concentrated on remodeling their big cars and their low-priced line. The expensive Imperial (starting price $5,839) is slightly shorter this year, but more lavish. Some models will feature a front passenger seat that swivels 180 degrees and can be fitted out with a tiny desk to hold typewriter or work papers. Chrysler calls this Imperial "a traveling board room." The sporty Barracuda, which had been hurriedly fashioned out of a Valiant base in an effort to meet the challenge of Ford's Mustang, sold badly last year. This year Barracuda's fastback has been modified with a 'more abrupt slope (the long, tapering fast-backs are on the way out in Detroit), the back of the car has a sportier slab look, and air vents (false) have been added to the hood.

Within the next month, Chrysler's competitors will come out with their own '67s. Two will be completely new cars. One is Lincoln-Mercury's Cougar, a higher priced ($3,200) version of the Mustang. Among Cougar's features will be a steering column that tilts automatically to the right when the driver's door is opened, thus allowing him to slide out more easily. The other new car is Chevrolet's Camaro, a sports car that competes directly with the Mustang in its own price range. Originally called Panther, Camaro is almost an outright imitation of the Mustang, from its simple grille to its squat tail. Chevrolet says that the name is French, means "comrade" or "pal." Sniping competitors note that versions of the word also appear in Spanish. One of them means "shrimp" and another translates as "loose bowels."

Celebrating the new year, automakers are quietly jubilant. Confident that the economy is strong, and convinced that the bad publicity about safety has run its course, they estimate that '67 will better '66 sales, estimated now at 9,100,000 cars.

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