An Evaluation of the Fluctuations in New Car Sales for Rapid City, Denver, and the U.S. from October 1973 Through March 1975

Abstract

During the past three years the American economy in general and the automobile industry in particular was plagued with inflation, recession, and unemployment. With sales declining during those years, profits vanished and layoffs increased within the automobile industry. One of the factors that contributed to this problem was the Arab oil Embargo of November, 1973. In the last quarter of 1973, when the automobile industry started its prolonged decline in sales, most of the Oil Producing and Export Countries (OPEC) were redirecting the world economy for their own benefit through embargoes and price fixing on their oil. Because of the dramatic ramifications the Arab Oil Embargo had on the U.S. automobile industry, this study focuses on the changes in consumer demand for automobiles during the embargo of November, 1973, and the recession and inflationary period that follower through the first quarter of 1975. The event that took place in the automobile industry during those periods are outlined below