40 years ago: Auto industry leaders concerned about future

Leaders of the United States auto industry said they would be entering the 1970s with slumping sales and unwieldy inventories scattered across the nation. Economic experts, including several at Kansas University, said part of the problem was the huge impact that foreign-made cars had been making and were likely to keep making on the U.S. market. American-made vehicles were “getting a bad reputation” from the standpoint of quality and durability, some officials said.