Nevada State Journal from Reno, Nevada • 28

Nevada State Journal Sunday ebruary 2 1975 27 Hilly Auto Sales Country enough money to buy the car dealers said Savings that used to be reserved for an automobile purchase are now being eaten up by the high cost of food and housing one car dealer said The year 1974 was a most year for most of the Reno dealers contacted because of the buffeting from the fuel crisis last winter and the growing recession this fall Oddly enough Cadillac and Lincoln Continental sales were the least affected by these problems The dealers in these two cars said that sales had remained close to normal throughout the year The car rebates though are helping the sales on other cars to return to normal most of the Reno dealers said Many of the dealers forsee a return to a stability that they have not enjoyed since 1973 In fact the greatest worry for many car dealers is how to get their orders filled They are afraid that they ill run out of cars sales are so good rebates were precipitated by the car sales slump that had been growing throughout the fall Car sales dropped last winter because of the fuel crisis however they recovered once the steady supply of gas returned most Reno dealers said This upward trend from March to September was halted by the effects of the recession they added Car manufacturers got a hint of hard times ahead when the introduction of the new models in September failed to stimulate sales in its usual manner predicted sales would increase after the new cars came out but they never did Sales did not jump in September at said the Chrysler Plymouth dealer Sales and production with it continued to drop until the first half of January when Chrysler manufactured only 19788 cars compared to a 36955 figure in a similar period in 1974 Production dropped because consumers no longer have passing month since September Because of the rebates which went into effect Jan 13 all Reno dealers contacted last week said that January sales were up One dealer reported that this was the best January for sales ever The effect of the rebate on national sales has also been significant Chrysler Corporation statistics show that sales on some models of cars for the Jan 11 20 period were as much as 127 per cent greater than sale for the first ten day period in January when rebates were not being offered Despite these positive results the rebate policy remains clouded in mystery announcement of the plan came as suddenly as a lightning bolt Not even the car dealers were alerted as to what was in store for them Some of the Reno car dealers learned of the rebate through the newspapers others through hastily sent telegrams from the car manufacturers after the an nouncements were made The situation was further confused by contradictory action by some of the car manufacturers A Reno Buick dealer said that he received a letter in early January saying that General Motors was not contemplating a rebate program Yet a week later GM was introducing that very same program All the car have set eb 28 as the termination date for the rebates and this also is raising questions Where does Detroit go from there? Will the rebates be continued? Car dealers like everyone else are left in the dark as to what the car manufacturers will do after the rebate termination date tell you what to said a Lincoln Mercury dealer rebate policy appears even more puzzling when one considers the cars to which it applies: Rebates are offered on only certain models and these are often the cars with the highest sales Surprisingly rebates are not given on most big cars even though they are increasingly ill adapted to the times because of their high gas consumption and high 'price tag The reason for this situation according to most of the car dealers contacted is that there is not as great an oversupply of the big cars The big cars they explained are manufactured in small numbers One dealer also noted that a rebate would not be an incentive for big car buyers rebate of $400 or $500 on a big ear would not affect Rebate ever Causes Record Car Sales By DAN GORDON people in the same way as a rebate on a small the Rebates have descended on rar dpalprs if I Hpv orp I inpnlnMomnrv dpnlnr caid gifts from heaven The price of the rebates at first appears to be ran The introduction of this promotion has reversed the domly established or instance the $500 rebate on a I trend of car sales that had been declining with each Mercury Capri is $300 more than the rebate on the Mercury Comet even though they retail at relatively the i same price The Capri is a bigger seller as well I However what these figures indicate is that rebates are not so related to retail price or to sales figures as they are to the over supply that has been built up in Detroit has been a real big seller but there are just more of the Lincoln Mercury dealer said Despite some of the puzzling features of rebate policy the Reno dealers contacted are extremely 1 pleased with it The dealers are happy about the increase in sales and they are happy that the lowered price does not come out of their own pocket The rebate is paid by the car manufacturer thereby allowing the individual car dealer to enjoy his normal profit margin The rebate has also attracted a great deal of attention and publicity so that if people are not buying cars they are at least thinking about them A Cadillac Buick dealer said that his showroom has become a traffic jam because of the great number of people just interesied in looking at cars have more people in here than ever he said However there is some disenchantment with the rebate policy rebate is ideal for the customer but I would sooner have seen a straight price said a Reno ord dealer He said that a straight price reduction would save him money because the interest payments to the banks would be accordingly reduced All our major shipments of cars are financed through bank loans he explained A price reduction would also be more permanent than the temporary rebate policy he said The ord dealer said that his dealership has provided price discounts for its own on top of the rebate to increase the incentive tor potential car buyers Some companies only slightly related to the car manufacturers are offering rebate programs of their own to stimulate car sales Reynolds Reynolds Co a Dayton Ohio business stationary company has instituted a policy called the Reynolds Economic Vibrator All company employes who buy an American made car between Jan 15 and Jan 31 will be awarded a $100 to $150 rebate from the Reynolds Reynolds Co Warner Electric Brake and Clutch Co of Beloit Wis is offering a $200 cash payment to employes buying Chrysler Corporation or American Motors Co cars Warner performs a significant portion of the brake and clutch work for these two companies All these programs and the car Personalities in Business it Ss New Post: Robert Gonzalez has been appointed assistant manager of Breuners Wayside store in Reno Gonzalez joined Breuners in 1968 and was formerly the furniture department manager In his new' position he will direct merchandising sales promotion and sales management Moving: Phil Arce vice president and general manager of the Primadonna in Reno has been promoted to vice president of property development for Del Webb Hotels International He has been with the Del Webb organization for 12 years IB Advanced: Alfred Gomes has been named vice president and general manager of the Primadonna in Reno Gomes who has more than 20 years experience in the hotel casino field comes to the Primadonna from Hotel Sahara in Las Vegas where he was assistant manager Promoted: Robert Phillips has been appointed manager of Breuners Wayside store in Reno Phillips has served as operations manager for the store since Breuners opened in Reno in April 1971 He has been with Breuners since 1955 wWB a zHBHrz After over two years the renovation project of Sky Lake Inn on Mt Rose Highway is complete Owners John and New ace: Margarette Barba are from California and now reside in Nevada The restaurant serves lunch and dinner and is open at noon Wednesday through riday and at 8 am Saturday and Sunday It is closed Monday and Tuesday Gimmicks Gadgets and Gizmos Displayed in Honor of Inventors Inventions will be the featured attraction at the eb 10 meeting of the Reno Rotary Instead of a speaker or panel of speakers Nevada in ventors will bequests of Rotary and then display their inventions in Convention Center The event coincides with the Third Annual Inventors Exposition inWashington DC held eb 9 to commemorate National Inventors Day Some of the inventions that will be displayed in Reno are: Bill Lear's new eight track magnetic tape unit Satern new stay clean funnel and a soft drink bottle with a drinking straw within the bottle a fuel saving device designed by Larry Little of Carson City to tell the driver of an automobile whether he is wasting fuel a mixer which prepares and compresses a gas with an aerosol designed by George Coverston of allon a battery operated electric flare designed by Mrs Leslie Olsen of Reno and Temp Seal thermal insulated glass for con verting the ordinary single glazed aluminum sliding window to insulated units without major construction changes Many more inventors are expected to participate The exhibit will be on display from noon until 4 pm JOURNAL WORLD BUSINESS Business Briefs TOM JACKSON has been appointed wine manager and buyer of Discount Liquors special area of responsibility will be the purchase merchandising and promotion of domestic and foreign wines for all four stores A 17 year resident of the Reno area he has attended special wine courses at the University of Nevada in Reno and extensively toured western wineries He has been employed by for four years EDWARD TORRES has resigned as president and director of Hotel Riviera Inc in Las Vegas Torres continues as chief operating officer and general manager of the Riviera Isidore Becker presently chairman of the board has been elected president RED DOLVEN has been installed as chairman of the Northern Nevada Chapter of the American Institute of Architects Other officers are Bob Simpson vice president Jack Sheehan secretary Wally ullerton treasurer and Graham Erskine elected to the board of directors Officers for the Ar chitectural League are Jill Simpson president Susan Sheehan vice president Eileen Casazza secretary and Sylvia Daniels treasurer MCKENZIE of McKenzie Construction Co of Reno presided over the annual meeting of the Western Chapters Conference of the Associated General Contractors of America held recently in San ran cisco McKenzie served as president of the conference for the past year EDWARD EINHANDLER of Elko has been promoted to assistant telephone sales manager of Munichem A graduate of the University of Nevada in journalism he has been with Munichem for J3 months VERNON OTTE has been ap pointed technical representative for Northern Nevada for United Coatings of Spokane Wash Otte will represent United Coatings to the construction trades architects engineers government officials and industrial users Magnin fs in Reno Has Record Sales The Park Lane Joseph Magnin store was number one in sales for the month of December topping 48 other stores in California Colorado and Hawaii Robert Berry president of the Joseph Magnin Company reports The Reno store showed a 107 per cent increase over goals set for the month and a substantial increase in growth volume over 1973 Berry said Additionally while Park Lane Centre showed a general increase over 1973 for December Joseph Magnin was first in growth for readywear among the stores Sonner Greenspan general manager of Park Lane said Nautical: Bill Canepa owner of Marine Specialties has been a boat en thusiast for 15 years He recently turned his hobby into a business Recognized Boat Lines Now Offered in Sparks Marine Specialties is a new boat sales and services business for in boards and jets It also offers custom painting and marine hardware Bill Canepa owner has been a boat racer and enthusiast for 15 years He is a life long resident of Reno The shop is at 890 Steneri Way Reno Sales Total Reveals Patterns Retail sales in Washoe County totaled almost half a billion dollars in 1972 according to a report recently released by the US Department of Commerce Of the $458 million total sales more than $135 million were made in three retail The DOC defines these retail centers as: Park Lane Shoppers Square Lakeside Plaza shopping centers and some adjacent establishments the downtown and adjacent area and the Mart Plaza area Jerry Jeremy Reno Department of Commerce director said the department conducts this censds of retail trade nationwide every five years and it takes almost two years to compile statistics and issup the report Asked if these figure had validity this long after the census Jeremy replied that organizations such as chambers of commerce use the figures as from which to estimate the more recent sales volume Copies of the report are available for $115 each at the Department of Commerce Reno District Office in the ederal Building Sparks near the intersection of Glendale Road and McCarran Blvd in a 3200 sq ft building Marine Specialties now stocks two high performance boat lines: Sanger Boats which has manufactured recreational and racing boats since the early and Mach I day cruisers The Sanger 18 foot Bubble Deck jet boat on the display floor features advanced styling all fiberglas hull deluxe trim shag carpet bilge pump 2 aluminum gas tanks Morse steering and controls and choice of a 454 cubic inch Chevrolet engine 'or 455 cubic inch Oldsmobile engine There are also many other options The Sanger also features the new improved gull wing bottom design for better handling and turning In ad dition Sanger also makes a 20 and 24 foot day cruiser jet or driven the Climax pickle fork dydro the tun nelbottom boat and the circle and ski runnerbottom hull The Mach I day cruiser offers two 20 foot bottom designs and three deck configurations All are in terchangeable The most popular is the 20 degree bottdm which handles rough water easily A flat bottom design is also available The Mach I day cruiser which comfortably sleeps two combines high performance boating with practical recreational capabilities It has a cruising range of between 300 350 miles per gas load The power source stems from the Berkeley 12JE jet drive The unique design of the pump enables low rpm at skiing speed and high gas economy 1 i.