Hope at American

After nearly two years in reverse, American Motors Corp. last week made a move to get into high gear. Off the company's production lines in Kenosha, Wis., rolled the first Javelin specialty car, a handsome 1968-model entry that will put A.M.C. into the bustling youth market with such fast company as Ford's Mustang, Chevrolet's Camaro, Plymouth's Barracuda, Lincoln Mercury's Cougar and Pontiac's Firebird.

A two-door hardtop with swept-back body, the Javelin boasts the kind of features that the sports-minded car buyer seems to prefer--streamlined hood, bucket seats, split grille and sunken door handles. Also available are such options as a zippy 280-h.p. engine and racing stripes. Roomier than the Mustang, but with a price in the same range (about $2,500), the car itself not only stands to catch on, but, says Company President William Luneburg, its sporty look should also "give the showrooms a traffic boost" for other lines.

Inventory Cushion. The Javelin is the first of the 1968-model cars scheduled for official unveiling between now and mid-September. The new year does not figure to be startling in its innovations. The Javelin's main rival as a conversation piece is likely to be Chevrolet's Corvette, which will feature a sleeker silhouette and a Ferrari-like snout. Mercury will introduce its new Montego, which will essentially be an elongated Comet. Dodge will add some curves to its slow-selling Charger. Such features as cover-up headlights will become even more familiar. And to comply with new federal regulations, the '68 cars will have smog-emission-control devices and, mandatory after Jan. 1, such safety features as additional seat belts (with harnesses for front-seat passengers), obtrusion-free dashboards and breakaway rear-view mirrors.

Small as most changes are, the automakers are counting on increased sales from the new cars. For the first seven months of calendar 1967, domestic car sales amounted to 4,600,000, down 9% from the same period in 1966. With the prospect of an auto workers' strike next month, Detroit has gone into full production on 1968 models in hopes of building up an inventory cushion.

For no automaker is the coming model-year more crucial than for American Motors, which has already lost $48 million in the first nine months of its current fiscal year. Despite all that red ink, the company insists that its long-range prospects are looking up. Under the imaginative leadership of Chairman and Chief Executive Roy Chapin Jr. and President Luneburg, A.M.C. has slashed $20 million in sales promotion off its annual budget, concentrated on improving assembly-line quality control, increasing plant efficiency, and attending to essential details such as the availability of replacement parts.

By cutting prices last February, the company got some extra sales push out of its slow-moving Rambler American economy line. It decided to scrap its ill-conceived Marlin fastback effective with the 1968 model-year, meanwhile cut back production on all '67 models to make sure that it would not be stuck with unsold cars. "Since January," says Luneburg, "we've operated at about halftime. I've never seen it before--and I never want to again."

Tackling the Mustang. Along with its new-look Javelin, A.M.C. has sought a new look in advertising, signing on the currently hot Wells, Rich, Greene agency (other accounts: Benson & Hedges 100s and Braniff airlines), which plans to tackle the Mustang headon, with the pitch that the new car has features--contour bumpers, hand-welded roof, more leg room--that make it a swell value. A.M.C.'s brass expects the total specialty market to reach 1,000,000 car sales next year, counts on the Javelin to capture a 5% slice, or 50,000 cars. Added to American's present 250,-000-a-year sales level, it would bring the company to what it calculates as its break-even point--sales of 300,000 cars a year. To show profit, it will also have to increase sales of its standby Rebel and Ambassador models.

While the Javelin is supposed to help the whole line by luring customers into the showrooms this fall, A.M.C. plans to add an even jazzier car to the bait next winter. Called the AMX, it will be a two-seat, high-performance sports car that, says Luneburg, will compare "in every way" to the Corvette--except that A.M.C. plans to sell it at a markedly lower price.

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