Good News Only

"Fearless " American Motors

As part of its new public relations strategy, American Motors has revived an old maxim: "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all." So last week AMC broke a 20-year industry tradition and stopped releasing ten-day sales figures; instead, it will give out monthly reports. After a fourth straight year of declining car sales, executives felt that bad news in twelve lumps is better than the same news meted out in 36 installments. American Motors also points out that its Jeep is not included in the car sales reports, but that big sales of that "utility vehicle" helped lift the firm's profits, to $26 million, in the quarter ended last month.

To emphasize the positive, AMC sent newsmen a tongue-in-cheek "Adjective Selector," to be used when writing about the company. Notably absent from the list: puny, little, troubled and skidding. Among the suggested replacements: aggressive, astounding, booming and dazzling. Trouble is, Volkswagen is now producing more cars in the U.S. than "fearless" AMC, bumping that "gutsy" company down to fifth place among domestic car producers. But "ingenious" AMC expects to do better once its "formidable" arrangement to sell French Renault cars gets going in the U.S. later this year.

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