SELLING PETROL.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 25, 30 January 1926, Page 6

SELLING PETROL.

A TRADE REVOLUTION. BIG BUSINESS INVOLVED. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES. On Monday things will move in the petrol trade, On that day the selling of motor "juice" in bulk, which in the past ha 3 burn t'.ic exception rather than the rule, will be literally pushed under liii; nofes of driver?. The reason is clear. Dealers, provided the\ buy it in bulk and Fell ;; in bulk, arc to receive petrol from •the wholc-ftlo di«trihuii r< 3d per gallon cheaper than will b'. v charged under iiip tin and c:.=e system. 1 h:s i = practically equivalent to l'-j per cent, a very substantial allowance when one remember that petrol is. in commercial parlance, a bread and butter line, the stock of which can be turned over 50 times in the 12 months. Of course it remains to be seen to what extent the draler will desire to -hare this 3d per gallon with the purchasing public. In the past the garage proprietor owning a Bowser from which he could sell petrol to the public in bulk has not always been satisfied with his investment —costing several hundreds of pounds. The motoring public, as the resuit of advertising propaganda, has been in tlie habit of demanding a special brand of petrol. Rightly or wrongly. a driver gets it into his head that his particular "bus will only do itself — and him — justice if the carburetter is fed with that brand. The old adage "What is one man's meat is another man's poison" is closely followed in motorology. and the garage attendant may hear with delight that the petrol he is pouring into a customer's tank is the best ever, and the very next caller may ttirn it down indignantly with the remark, "I'd as soon fill her up with water." Yet both owners may be driving the same make of car possessing identical engines. Obviously the dealer cannot fulfil these varying requirement.9 from a common source, and therefore after installing a Bowser at great expense for the convenience o- the buying public, he has been compelled to stock cased petrol of various brands to provide a choice for faddy clients. The latest development in the tank eystem of supplies is likely to have an important bearing on this matter. Bowsers, or other forms of petrol pumps, will spring up all over the Dominion, and dealers will be offered special inducements to push the sale of l.tilk petrol. The education of the motoring public will be taken up in earnest by the traders themselves, and it is ?afe to say that ere ]ong cased petrol will be only a sideline in the garage petrol stock, and will 'be kept chiefly for the convenience of those living in the country. That the big oil dif-tributors intend to do their part in hurrying on the development of the new selling system can be judged by the terms offered to dealers. To those who have not a tank and pump system in operation, they ere offering to bear the whole expense of installation provided, of course, a particular brand of petrol is put through it. As already pointed out. such a plant is very expensive, but all the dealer has 1o do is to pay £10 as a deposit, and a nominal rental of 10/ per year. For every gallon he puts through the pump in excess of SOO gallons a month he is to receive a special rebate of id per gallon. In other words, a moderate business will more than recoup iteelf through this rebate for its liability in regard to the pumping system. To those establishments already furnished with a Bowser outfit, the rebate of Ad per pallon is available for all petrol put through, provided, of course, a particular brand only is sold. Of the probable results of the new system the most obvious is the economic Raving attained through dispensing with a large proportion of the tins and caees at present used. Another is the centralisation of the industry in the hands of a few huge concerns. In the past, these firms have had the biggest proportion of the petrol trade, but side by side, have been scores of smaller institutions, successfully carrying on with brands of petrol that, in some instances, have had a purely local connection. Many big mercnntile firms, big users themselves, have found it profitable to handle a line of petrol. True, the big controllers of the world's oil industry have a very real grin on the question of supplies, but, possibly because the dimensions of the trade was to them insignificant, there has been no interference "with the importation of petrol from the "independent" wells of California. ObTiously, the business of those New Zealand firms handling petrol on a restricted scale must be confined to case and tin lots, for it would never pay them to incur the huge expense necessary to finance pumping plants throughout the Dominion. It certainly seems as though the bulk of the petrol trade will 'go to those heavily capitalised concerns which are the direct representatives of the world's big oil corporations. There are virtually four only of these operating in New Zealand to-day, and of the four, three will be ready for the new class of business on Monday. That competition -amongst these is keen is ehown by the fact that one, which was not so forward with its arrangements ns the others, will supply to dealers, tanks and pumps on exactly the same terms as its competitors, despite the fact that it will have in the meantime to get its own supplies by emptying tins already filled under the old system. Similarly it may be expected that there will be an elimination of many of the Smaller" fry" amongst the Tetailers.' The concessions as to tanks and pumps will only be granted by the distributors +0 dealers with a minimum output of 800 gallons, equal to 100 cases, a month. If the preeent margin of 2/ for eight gallons is preserved by the distributors in fixing their selling prices, the trader who does not handle the bulk etulT will be placed at such a disadvantage that it will not pay him to neTs PUtrol aS a main line in his busi " Another important issue of which ness is desired. It is conceivable, though not likely, that a bi X cara-e Witl? ° extensive petrol busing, mighT'ha" three or four tank, installed under ils premises with as many pumpa on the JB that the dealer will be compiled to make a choice of brands, the distributors will eeek the best Bo lli ng agent U s and the customer will have to readjust hie ideas when he finds that hi 3 favourite garage, where his car 13 looked after no longer Blocks his favourite brand pi petrol.

That the new system will bring in its train some problems that have not yet born provided for was confirmed by an interview with one of the leading garage proprietors in Auckland. lie stated that the motor trade is conferring with the oil distributors next week in regard to the policy to be adopted. He had been amazed to find that at this late stage in the proceedings, their policy on many vital points had not been defined. The motor trade was now an important and well organised body, quite influential enough to have some say in the conditions under which they will co-operate in the introduction of the new system. Incidentally, lie showed a "Mar ,, representative a new prue list that had just been received. '"Here you are," he said. "We were to get on Monday, a reduction of 2/ per eigut gallons on bulk petrol, and on Saturday morning comes this intimation, that cased petrol is up 1/6. So the real reduction on bulk is only Gd per case.' .