YESTERDAY the Nation's effort to fight inflation received a sharp blow when one of the major automobile manufacturers announced an excessive price increase on its 1969 models. If this price increase prevails throughout the industry, it would take three-quarters of a billion dollars out of the pockets of American families when they buy new cars. This is an onerous and unfair burden on the consumer.
The Cabinet Committee on Price Stability has informed me that there is absolutely no excuse for the Chrysler action and that this price increase should not stand.
No major industry has benefited more from the prosperity of recent years than the automobile industry. No major industry has a greater stake in protecting that prosperity.
So today, I urge the auto manufacturers to recognize the public interest and exercise restraint and responsibility at this critical hour in the Nation's battle against inflation.
Note: For a further statement by the president on this subject, see Item 492.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President on Prices of New Automobiles. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/237463