State of Business: Detroit's New Line-Up

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Virtually every one of its models is a sales disappointment to Chrysler—a fact that Chairman Lester Lum Colbert blames chiefly on bad publicity resulting from stockholder dissension and the conflict-of-interest scandals (TIME. July 11 et seq.). Once-mighty Plymouth has skidded from 4.9% to 3.3% of the market, and the European-styled Valiant has not made up the difference, rising only from 2%_ to 2.1% despite a $100 price cut. Valiant's new and costlier twin, the compact Dodge Lancer, got only a discouraging 1.2% of the market, and the middle-priced Dodge Dart, newly styled with a bomb-shaped tail end, dropped from 5.3% to 3%. The middle-rung Chrysler is a bright spot: it reduced minimum prices, lifted its market from 1.2% to 1.6%. But only one out of every 500 cars sold in the U.S. today is the luxury Imperial.

AMERICAN MOTORS

Sharp competition from other compacts stalled the fast advance of Rambler. Though the restyled little American skipped from 1.7% of the market to 2.1%, the bigger Classic dropped from 4.2% to 3-6%. Rambler plans no major style changes for '62.