State of Business: Wait and See

The auto industry, hailed in 1960 as one of the chief props of a sagging economy, last week showed signs of sagging itself. Faced with slipping sales in December and a backlog of about 1,000,000 new cars, a record for this time of year, the industry began to trim production to fit in more closely with sales. The cutbacks meant that production in the next few months will look poor when compared with 1960, when the industry produced heavily in the first quarter to replenish stocks depleted by the steel strike.

Auto output...