BIG TRADING YEAR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 210, 6 September 1938, Page 16

BIG TRADING YEAR.

AUSTRALIA'S NEW CARS.

VERT HIGH SALES LEVEL.

THOUSANDS OF VEHICLES. The purchasing power of the Australian people is reflected in tlie sales statistics of new ears and commercial motor vehicles throughout the Commonwealth for the fiscal year ended June. 1938. which have just been issued by the Dunlop Rubber Company. In the year's trading, 82.303 new units were sold, comprising ."0.294 cars and 23,009 commercial vehicles. At the conservative estimate of an all-round average retail price of £350 a unit, the year's turnover in new cars was in the region of £20.750.000 and commercial vehicles more than £8.000,000, in all £28,750,000, of which more than £20.000,000 was added value in Australia by Australian workers and industry. The sales tax paid to the Federal Government on the year's trading in new automobiles alone exceeded £1.000,000. The sales figures for 1937-38 show a Commonwealth gain of 9523 units (13 per cent) over those of the preceding financial year; car sales increased by 7379 units (14.2 per cent), and commercial vehicles by 2146 units (10.3 per cent). In the merchandising of the 82.303 new automobiles, something like 100,000 used cars and commercial vehicles changed hands, so that, all told, more than 182,000 of these vehicles were sold throughout the Commonwealth in the fiscal year. State Figures Improved. An interesting feature of the 12 months trading is that every State registered improved figures over the previous fiscal year, both in ear and commercial vehicle sales, with the single exception of West Australia, which showed a slight recession in sales of commercial vehicles. The 1937-38 sales of new commercial vehicles (23,009) establishes an all-time

Australian record for industrial un; while the car sales (59,294) are 1 second highest on record, the pc figure being registered in 1928-29, wl 72,722 new cars were sold. At that tii however, there was a much larger poti tial, for Australia then only had 564,! cars and commercial vehicles registei (86.8 per 1000 of population) as co pared with to-day's 797,000 cars a commercial vehicles (116.8 per 1000 population). The purchasing power of the people strikingly reflected in the followi figures covering sales of new auton biles in the Commonwealth during 1 last three years:— Sa,es Ne 1935-36 70,247 1936-37 72,778 1837-38 82,303 It is thus disclosed tnaf 161,554 n cars and 63,774 new commercial vehic of a retail value (average £330) more than. £78,000,000 (approximati £56,000,000 for cars, and £22,000,( for commercial vehicles) were market in Australia during that three vea