THE COACHBUILDING TRADE.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14368, 30 May 1912, Page 3

THE COACHBUILDING TRADE.

FOREIGN COMPETITION IN MOTOR BODIES.

c A deputation of four journeymen coachbuilders waited on the Hon. G. Laurenson, Minister of Customs, yesterday j morning, to discuss the condition of. the y coachbuilding industry. The deputation, I which consisted of Messrs S. Pentecost, j J. Campbell, H. Kennedy, and A. Sim--3 nionds, was introduced by Mr L. M. s Isitt, .M.P. Mr Pentecost said that the toach- ' building trade had drifted down, and , there was a danger that in a few years r, it would be extinct. Its place would be t taken by the motor-building trade. The - wages paid in the trade were not rer sponsible for its decline, as the journeymen only got ls 3d, as compared with «ls 4Jd for cabinet making. In the year ; 1910 only six per cent, of the motor car > bodies were made in New Zealand. One * of their biggest establishments had had 1 to close down, and the journeymen had ' drifted away to Australia or elsewhere. (It appeared as though their shops would havo to cease buildiag, and becomo mere repairing shops. Motor car bodies were even coming in in sections. ; and had only to be put together before being sent out. Mr Simmonds said that in 1910 thero were 720 bodies and 772 chassis imported into the Dominion, bo that only 40 bodies, or six per cent., were made in the Dominion. The average price of tho body was £06 10s 4d, without duty. On tho other hand, the actual cost of material for making a full body in New Zealand was £'54 10s -Id. That was for the material alone, without "wages, profit, or any other expense. Tlio full cost of the body would bo about £113'18s 7d. The material for a single -seatea- cost £42 18s lid. and the labour would cost £-11 0s sd, giving a total of £'8-1 os 4d. That would be for a cheap car. The material for a taxi cab body cost £40. and wages came to £03 IGs. Unless the trade could bo protected, say on thc lines of tho Australian tariff, the shops would have to close down. The American cheap article was ono of their great drawbacks. There was a gradual decrease in the amount of work done and the linnds employed in the local shoj>s. They would have to come down to the *x.sition of repairing shopis, and to doing catch trade. The Minister said that there was :*, twenty per cent, duty on the bodies. Mr Simmonds said that was not enough. In other countries bodies were made in factories by the score ir the hundred. In New Zealand they /had to set out for each separate car. It was a good trade, and he would jo •sorry to see it go out. Tho Minister: Hear, hear. Mr Campbell submitted a rough tariff:—(.l) That all chassis with bodies attached be taxed 2-5 *>er cent, on th-3 total value, including chassis; (2) that all chassis without bodies bo admitted freo as at present; (li) that all motor bodies without chassis l>e taxed at tho following rates: —Single-seaters £20, double-seaters and taxis £35; (4) that a. tax of 30 per cent, be placed on all material pertaining to motor bodies, otherwise than in the raw. He contended that frequently the invoice prico was faked, and that tho body usually cost more than wa.s shown. The last proposal was devised to prevent the foreign makers sending parts into New Zealand, where they could be "slapped up" by anyone. Mr Kennedy said that the colon! il workman wa.s the more practical and up-to-date, as compared with theforeign ono. Ho contended that life tariff asked for by the coaehworkers was a reasonable one. . .The only work got by them from local builders was for motor bodies which had to be made to order. It was stated that in the old coachbuilding trade the local shops made f*o per cent, of the vehicles. They oniy made 0 per cent, of motor bodies. Tho Minister, in reply, said that he wai quite aware that the advent of the motor-car had had a most disastrous effect on the coachbuilding trade, isoiiio figures he had in his possession ititiicated an even more alarming position of affairs. In 1910 there -were 701) cars imported into New Zealand, but for the year ending December 31st, 1911, there were imported 1473 bodies, valued at £83,725, and 1524 chassis, valued at £316,385. Thero were 232 carriages, valued at £4000, but thit | was a mere fleabite to the number manufactured in the Dominion. Tho motor-car was practically taking complete possession of vehicular traffic, and the coachbuilding trade -was bound ;o suffer. There wa.s no duty on chassis, but if the tariff were revised motorcars would not be admitted.free as -"ar as he was concerned. If people wishc-.l to import motor-cars they could well afford to pay duty on them. tli« had been informed by an engineer that if there was a protective duty on chassis they would be manufactured here. The' difficulty cf the coachbuilding firms was that they had to produce one or two motor-car bodies where foreign manufacturers were producing them by the score. He had been informed 'that a gentleman who wanted a motor-car body made locally complained that ho had to pay moro than the imported price, but when he gave an order for five bodies they wero produced 10 per cent, cheaper than the j imported price. If these makers were enabkvl to produce bodies in 30*6 or 50's they would be able to compete with thii imported article without an increased duty. The deputation had stated that in 1910 only 0 per cent. <*f the bodies were manufactured in thy Dominion. The figures for 1911 showed that only 51 were manufactured here, which brought the proportion down f o 3J per cent. .The coachbuilding trad.?, on the other hand, was holding ts i own. In 1910 the total value of goods turned out was £210,000, and 1135 peoplo were employed. In tho next year, 1-U55 people were employed, and goods were produced valued at £294,000, In 1910 the number employed fell T «> 1439, but the output had increased to ' £390,000. probably owing to the use ' of more machinery. Last year there ' was imported into this country £400,000 j worth of motor-cars. If they added to that amount freight and exchange, the sum would approximate £500,000, ! which was going out of the '_ country. They had to add lo • that the importer's profits, and importers required a very substantial j profit to make their businesses pay. . They -would see what an enormous • drain tin's was on the country, and his J attention had been called-to it by ono '• ot the most prominent financial men in the country. He had heard of one firm which had hesitated before taking an agency on advantageous terms, because the firm had to give an initial order for fifty cars.< Eventually tlio firm J agreed to take the cars in instalments of ten, but in that year it disposed of 247 cars. One could easily realise how « such business must affect* tho coach- i building trade. He assumed that if 1 protection were given the coachbuilcl- > ers would be able to turn out bodies as ( cheaply as they were being turned out ] now. The depucation: Yes. Tho Minister resumed that reference ' had been made,to the faking of in- * voice--. There was a tremendous temp- ' tatiou on the part of imnorters to put the heaviest price on the free articles, and the light price ou the dutiable articles. Thnt showed that the nrsrument in favour of having a duty on chassis had some force"* behind i'There was no doubt _hat the New Zealand workman could hold his own with the workmen of any country. One had

only to see their local industries and their exhibitions to appreciate that fact. He hbjvod to Vie able to do something to assist tho industry, either by increasing the entry on bodies, or by putting a duty on motor-ca 11s. He believed that the industry could bo established in this country.