European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 01, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Credit fuel and Cost. Problems have Cut Van sales by 46 percent. Wib Yorg Back on the Shoff new York times year ago. The demand for luxury vans appeared limitless to american Aulo makers. To Day in the aftermath of the Domestic Industry Sworst downturn since the 1973 Oil embargo Van .1. A arc Down almost 50 percent and no one inthe Industry dealers manufacturers or analysts sees a rebound in the immediate future. Ule to the 1970s, America went Van crazy. Stu Dent Middle aged couples sum retirees seemed to be buying anything thai resembled ran panel trucks " a of used company ""ft1 dra Kwi of Eon Ortto  Homes floating bedrooms and entertainment centers on Beds. Dealers could not keep vans on showroom floors. Al a iyar the arc were Lanty of buyers and no vans a d Mike Grossman of Grossman Chevrolet in Burns Villa Minn. The difference now is like night and Day he said. With the Ever present threat of gasoline shortages rising Van prices the average Price of a Basic equipped Van is now Between $6.500 and $8,500 and tightening credit Van buyers arc again Back on the shelf in the words of Donald a. Bouchard a sales executive with the general motors corp., just As they were in the Early 1970s when conditions were similar. Over All Van sales dropped 26 percent last year fro their Peak in 1978 of almost 600,000 units. Sales in the first three months of 1980 Are Down 46 percent on a daily Selling rate basis. Last year when the Industry entered what it now feel was the Rock Bottom of its slump. Chrysler corp. Van Jaje dropped 39.7 percent. Ford motor co. Sales of vans Ell 25.7 percent and general motors was Down 15 per cent from the year before. Of the big three Chrysler hat been Hurt the mos because traditionally it had been Strong in the truck Market and trucks Are very profitable products for automakers. Chrysler towered Over the other american manufacturers in 1976. Selling approximately 195.000 vans Ford and general motors each sold Between 160.000 and168,000 vans that year. It took Ford and pm until 1978 to catch up. Thai year. General motors the nation s largest Auto maker took the Lead in Tan sales Selling 212,700 units and it has held Lull Lead since. For followed pm closely with 207.200 ans and Chrysler found itself at the Bottom Selling Only 178,4000 to 1978. The Van Market As we knew it is off said Albe Timber jr., Chrysler truck sales manager. Manufacturers and dealers Are still Selling vans but inmost cases it is with showroom Price cuts or sales at Cost and those sales take considerably More Lime to jell. Pm and Ford following in the Steps of Chrysler replacing new emphasis on Fleet sales. Ford recently mailed information pamphlets to 9,000 United states corporations extolling the benefits of the shared ride for their employees. General motors has begun courting Large corporations itemizing the benefits from tax advantages to employee morale of Van pooling. From a National standpoint its Impact has t Bee reached Bouchard said. Chevrolet Market research suggests and some analysts agree that the last Quarter sales period will see some appreciable upward movement in Van sales. There is still a segment of the Market who will us their vans for recreational  said James g. O Connor Light truck sales manager for Thi Ford Divis Ion people will always Bate Leisure that and this willbe a cheap Way logo for a Long time to come be but the lakers in thai segment of the Market Are Likely Eye of one Leader of tic ? 5peak 1?  be cheaper today to rent an apartment Nevor Korfanto live in a  said Ray Cohen of the Independent dealers committee dedicated to action. Shelter from nuclear fallout Bill Murray is campaigning for nuclear fall out  is civil defense coordinator for Cas Cade county. Mont., in which great Calls is located. Great Falls is 10 Miles from a Field of minus can missile silos. The shelters Issue is of concern in Montana Andi Solhi Dakota because of rising International tension and the fact the missile silos in the two slates Are presumed to be primary largely of any soviet pre Emiliie nuclear strike. R there Are a Large number of Federal people who Hon Estly believe that i m offering my citizens out Here false assurances of survival Murray says. Then on the other Side is a group of decision makers who believe that our Only Saj Valion lies in massive deterrence thai the Only Way we can Avert War is to convince the other Sid thai we will annihilate them. Siripo nerf View Doetzl support civil defense be cause shelters for our population do not assure the annihilation of the other Guy s population. In other words it immaterial to their  Murray insists Hal nuclear War is survivable. He Point to Hiroshima Japan a City of 256.000 where a 0-Kiloton atomic bomb was dropped by the United slates near the end of world will. More than 70percent of Hiroshima s residents survived the blast. We re told that it s not Worth the expenditure on shelters for this population Here Yel they be spent untold sunday june 1. 1980 by Doug Hampton United press International millions of dollars protecting the launch control facilities and the two people in it. Why if there s no survival from nuclear attack who not put them in a tin shed on the surface but Federal policy has shifted from a fallout shelter program to one of crisis relocation in the belief that any nuclear Exchange would be preceded by mounting International tension that would allow Ihrcke Days to move the Popula Tion out of High risk areas. Murray insists that crisis relocation cannot work. For example he says during a recent dry run the mock evacuation was blocked on one of the few routes out of great Falls when Murray secretly parked a truck across an underpass. The line of bumper to bumper evacuation vehicles could t Back up. But in North Dakota Mike Vorachek. Program management director for thai state s emergency and disaster services says the state has endorsed the concept of crisis relocation. R. Vorachek i  a food if it became evident the nation was headed toward a nuclear confrontation.  if reside its of ugh Riak areas Wen moated in Nirav sars. Other in him lilt Ruu i a the stars and stripes Poge 11