AUTOMOBILE PRICE WAR IS PREDICTED

The New York Times
August 2, 1922

Cuts Made by General Motors Regarded by Dealers as Beginning of Campaign.

REDUCTIONS ON FOUR CARS

Buick, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet and Oakland Affected by Announcement.

One of the most significant factors in the automobile world this season has been the reduction in prices just announced by the General Motors Corporation on four of its popular makes of cars, the Buick, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet and Oakland. No reduction announcement has been made for the Cadillac, which is the highest price car controlled by General Motors, but there are rumors that new Cadillac prices may be made before the end of the year.

Several dealers expressed the opinion yesterday that this systematic policy of substantial reductions on General Motors cars selling from $510 to $2,555 indicates the beginning of a campaign of keener competition than has hitherto existed. Several dealers on Broadway believed this competition is directed chiefly against the Studebaker and Durant cars.

The new Buick prices show reductions ranging from $30 to $220. Only one model remains at the same price as last year; that is the regular four-door four-cylinder sedan, selling for $1,520.

Reductions on all lines of the Oldsmobile, of which four and eight cylinder types are made, range from $40 to $150, the larger cut being on the light eight coupe and sedan, now selling for $1,995 and $2,145, respectively, a reduction in each case of $150. On the Oakland, the reductions range from $100 to $240, the latter cut being made on the sedan and four passenger coupe, the new prices being $1,545 and $1,445, respectively.

The Chevrolet, which is the lowest priced car made by the corporation, shows reductions from $15 to $250. The largest cut is made on the large six cylinder coupe, reduced to $1,575, a cut of $250, while the sedan of the same class sells for the same price, representing a reduction of $180. The cheapest car in the Chevrolet series is the small roadster, cut to $510 from $525.