From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
The manufacturing practices, supply chain, and economic state of the American automobile industry.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 179\3\ img126 | |
| Date | 31th March 1932 | |
| -4- Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/RLL/MA.31.3.32.cont'd.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} It is not correct today to accuse the reputable American automobile manufacturers of inferior material or shoddy workmanship. The machines has supplanted the craftsman, but the results are not inferior from the users point of view. The complete car testing grounds ensure the quality of the material and of the finished product. General Motors road tests are quite as severe as ours, 30,000 miles on the proving ground (which has stretches of pavée reminiscent of immediately post war French Roads) is a standard sort of run. They also use California for tropical tests on radiators and air cleaners, and freezing chambers for cold starting tests. One rather surprising feature is that, almost without exception, it is the practice for American automobile manufacturers to buy out their Electrical Equipment, Carburetters, Shock Absorbers, Steerings, Perbol Pumps, Radiators and in the majority of cases Brakes, Frames and Silencers, and this in spite of their enormous production, (the least in any factory we went into 50 cars per day) and large engineering staffs. Practically speaking, the actual automobile factories seem to concentrate on manufacturing the power unit axles and gearbox, and in assembling these with the bought out components previously mentioned. The specialist plants such as Bendix or Delcos are really amazing as the whole factory is concentrating on the one job and the prices worked to indicate the economy obtained from the special machine they can afford to buy. There is no doubt that the amount spent on tools is tremendous. As an indication, Studebakers tooled up for the "Rockne Model", (quite an unimportant automobile) in the autumn and the equipment cost 2,500,000. Naturally, to engineer and tool on that scale requires big production if the firms are to remain solvent. When we arrived at Detroit Cadillacs were making about 100 cars a day. When we left they were finding that they could not sell them. Considering that Lincoln's were producing about the same quantity and Pierce Arrows about 50 per day, also that Auburns and Pacards were just getting into production this is not surprising. It appears that America is now experiencing the first real depression since the war that if these companies are to continue to exist they may have to retrench all round and almost certainly raise the price of their cars in consequence. | ||