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Story of the automobile: Its history and development from 1760 to 1917 / With an analysis of the standing and prospects of the automobile industry cover

Story of the automobile: Its history and development from 1760 to 1917 / With an analysis of the standing and prospects of the automobile industry

Chapter 51: General Comparison.
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About This Book

The work chronicles the mechanical and commercial evolution of the horseless vehicle, tracing early experiments in France, England, Germany and the United States and the gradual emergence of a practical automobile. It examines commercialization, mass production and parts standardization, highlighting the role of large-scale manufacturing in lowering prices and expanding ownership, and treats the industry's economic consequences, investment opportunities, and social benefits. The author emphasizes how cooperation among manufacturers and production for mass markets generated substantial profits, and an appended chapter provides an editor's account of contemporary industrial conditions and figures.

General Comparison.

The attached chart, showing the average high and low prices of representative groups of securities during 1916, may be used as a comparison of the average selling price of the motor group with that of railroads, industrials, and mining.

It will be seen that the greatest fluctuations occur in the mining, steel and iron stocks of the standard list, and that a similar fluctuation occurs in the tire and automobile stocks of the motor group.

This comparison would tend to show that the tire and motor stocks are still in the class which fluctuates considerably and therefore, except in special cases, are more or less speculative. In this light these figures and comparisons are very interesting and may be carefully considered from the investment standpoint.

The following chart compares the average high and low prices of representative groups of stocks during 1916 with similar groups in the automobile field: