Business: TOO MANY MODELS

They Boost Prices, Confuse Consumers

YOU can have any color car you want,” Henry Ford used to say, “so long as it’s black.” The father of modern mass production not only stuck to a few colors, but turned out more than 15 million model Ts over 19 years with hardly a change. Since then the U.S. has changed, and with it the idea of mass production. Today manufacturers not only change their models frequently, but turn out everything from electric irons to autos in a bewildering variety of models and colors. Many manufacturers are now beginning to wonder whether they are doing the consumer a service—and whether they have not strayed too far from the basic principles of mass production. Says Judson Sayre, president of Borg-Warner’s Norge Division: “Multiplicity of products is creating a trend toward phony obsolescence. Industry, in trying to create obsolescence with chrome decorations and gadgets, is building monuments to futility.”

Variety for its own sake reaches into every corner of U.S. life. Even when ordering a martini—once a simple concoction of gin and vermouth cum olive —today’s drinker must specify whether he wants it dry, extra dry or desiccated ; with lemon peel, olive or onion; straight or on the rocks; with domestic or foreign gin (high or low proof) or vodka, etc. Ford, which started with a single model car, now offers millions of combinations of color, interior fabric, power, styling and accessories in its autos, could theoretically run at full production for a year and never produce two identical cars. Westinghouse Electric turns out 63 “basic” models of appliances that can be modified 342 ways. Radio Corp. of America has 316 cabinet styles and models in radios, TV and phonographs alone.

Industry’s argument for such variety is that the individualistic U.S. consumer demands a wide choice. But it is industry’s own ads and competitive claims—linked with its passion for changing models yearly for the sake of change—that spur the public’s appetite for variety and innovation. Says Art Sellgren, owner of a Detroit Buick agency: “The more choices people have, the more they want.”

The wealth of choice makes it possible for the single-minded consumer to buy a car or appliance that is practically custom-made—but he inevitably pays for the privilege. “Imagine the poor woman who walks into our refrigerator showroom to buy a refrigerator,” says Maurice Leifler, executive sales director of Chicago’s Polk Brothers discount chain. “She looks around and sees 55 different models. Where does she start?” The buyer is so baffled that she often does not buy.

Industry’s own production experts complain that they operate less efficiently with so many models. Says Mrs. Florence B. Anderson, design and feature coordinator for Norge: “Multiplicity means more down time for your dies, and more short production runs—and this can be very expensive.”

But the men who complain most loudly about the wide variety of products are the retailers. Most dealers agree that business would be better if there were fewer models to handle, find that most customers tend to concentrate on a few popular models anyway. “I feel that multiplicity affects profit,” says Edward R. Taylor, Motorola executive vice president of consumer products. “It shortens the margins for the wholesaler and retailer.” Says Buick General Manager Edward T. Ragsdale: “We reduced our models to make it simpler for our dealers to keep an adequate inventory on hand.”

Though the one who stands to gain most by the jungle of models and gimmicks is the service man, few service men can actually carry all the parts needed to make repairs. Said a Pittsburgh service man called to replace the timer on a 1955 washer: “I’ve got a whole truckload of timers outside, but not one for your washer.”

More and more companies are realizing that the trend to multiplicity has gone too far. The cut in 1959 auto models is a prime example: Ford dropped from 71 to 54 models, dropping eight Edsels (see Autos); General Motors cut back from 82 to 73 models, has reduced the number of basic body shells this year from three to two. General Electric’s Hotpoint Co. Division is cutting its TV models by 50% for 1959, and Motorola is offering 15% fewer 1959 TV models. Norge, which got an early start this year by cutting its washer and dryer models in half, found that its sales climbed 16%.

Manufacturers are well aware that they will always have to cater to geographical and financial variations in consumer taste, that obsolescence is a necessary part of progress. But the recession made many businessmen see that they had carried it too far. Too many models are worse than too few, have cost both manufacturer and consumer some of the benefits of mass production, e.g., lower prices, ease of production. What is needed is a happy medium in which the consumer can have plenty of choice—and his saving too.