Production of war materials became the sole job of former makers of automobiles and trucks during the calendar year of 1942. Shortly after Pearl Harbor production of civilian passenger cars and motor trucks was stopped completely for the first time in the history of industry. Passenger car production was discontinued Feb. 11, 1942, and civilian motor truck output ended on May 31.
Determined to throw its full strength into the winning of the war, former manufacturers of motor vehicles, trailers, bodies and parts at the end of December 1941, formed the Automotive Council for War Production as an instrument for a cooperative war effort — sharing facilities, pooling ideas and experience in improving production methods and working together in a common cause. A resolution adopted unanimously by the Council on Dec. 30, 1941, states, in part:
'We pledge, on behalf of the entire automotive industry, not only a cooperative spirit in the common task, but complete interchange of mass-production information, time-saving techniques, product improvements, tooling shortcuts and developments which the individual concerns have now effected or will bring about in doing their portions of the work....
'The Nation will not lack for one gun, one tank, one engine, that the capacity and ingenuity of this industry's producers can add to the forces of our nation and its friends on all the fighting fronts.'
War assignments of the automobile industry totaled nearly $14,000,000,000 on Nov. 1, 1942. Deliveries of war materials mounted at a steadily increasing rate during the year, in many instances months ahead of schedules. By October, 1942 monthly deliveries of war materials reached the annual rate of $6,325,000,000, more than 50 per cent above the civilian output of the highest previous year.
Classified into broad product groups, the automotive industry, during the twelve months following Pearl Harbor delivered $4,326,000,000 worth of war products.
Employment in the automobile industry reached levels higher than ever before. In September 1942 there were approximately 570,000 employees engaged in turning out munitions in motor vehicle and body plants, as compared with 514,360 in the peak month (June) of 1941.
Motor vehicle registrations on Dec. 31, 1942 were estimated at 32,000,000, a decline of about 5 per cent below the previous year. The effect of gasoline rationing on the number of motor vehicles in use is not reflected in these figures since the registrations remain on the record until the end of the registration year, varying from Dec. 31, 1942 to Mar. 31, 1943.
Confronted with gasoline shortages in certain areas and the need to conserve rubber tires and the nation's rolling stock of motor vehicles, the government ordered gasoline rationing for the country's motorists. Rationing for eastern coastal states went into effect May 15, 1942 and the remainder of the nation was placed under gasoline rationing on Dec. 1, 1942.
A recent survey of truck traffic into and out of 741 Michigan war plants indicated that 65 per cent of the incoming freight and 69 per cent of the outgoing freight was carried by motor trucks. These facts led to the conclusion by the Michigan State Highway Department that 'the truck was actually a part of the assembly line itself, extending from factory to factory, connecting sources of supply of semi-fabricated materials and even raw materials. The motor truck effects the linking together of a maze of inter-dependencies that is mass production.'
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