Compacts in Paris

At the Paris Auto Show in the ornate Grand Palais last week, nine shiny Renault Ondines revolved slowly on separate turntables, opening and closing their doors automatically in a kind of automotive ballet to the strains of Swan Lake. But beyond the new Ondine, which is a dressed-up version of the Dauphine with a slightly more powerful engine, French makers introduced only two other new models: a Citroeen convertible and the Peugeot 404, which is a more crisply styled version of the popular 403 sedan. Other European automakers had not one new model to unveil.

The show was stolen by the new U.S. compacts. The Americans, said Renault's President Pierre Dreyfus, are attacking us "under our own sun." He promised "to fight back without mercy."

French automakers have been so hard hit by the soaring sales of compacts in the U.S. that the decline in the number of cars exported to the U.S. has been sudden and drastic. In August the U.S. imported 50% fewer French cars than in July, and for the first six months of the year imports ran 33% below the rate for the same period 'in 1959. Two ships loaded with Renault Dauphines were turned back in mid-Atlantic because the docks in New York were already overcrowded with unsold Dauphines. Renault has had to cut back production, has reduced the work week from 48 to 45 hours. Renault had hoped that their U.S. sales would level off at 80,000 to 90,000 cars a year (v. sales of 90,536 in 1959), but that hope has gone by the board. This year Renault sales may fall as low as 60,000. Says one French automaker: "We were waiting for the market to level off, but we did not expect the bottom to drop out."

British automakers have been even harder hit. The British auto industry, star performer of Britain's postwar economy, is clamoring for removal of credit restrictions to spur domestic sales and head off the possibility of widespread unemployment. Britain's Standard-Triumph has put 25% of its employees on a 2 1/2-day week; British Motors Corp.'s sports-car factory has halved its production. Most other British automakers have workers on short time.

To spur domestic sales, European automakers are resorting to gimmicks that they once disdained as being "too American." Although Volkswagen is still making gains in the U.S., it now has an ample supply for the first time in its home country. It is offering a 10% price cut on 1960 models and a free lottery ticket to all prospective buyers, which will give the winner a trip to the factory at Wolfsburg to pick up a free Volkswagen.

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