Ford’s Head Proposes Car-Industry Deal

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31012, 18 March 1966, Page 12

Ford’s Head Proposes Car-Industry Deal

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, March 17. A car-industry deal that was a “preferable alternative” to the Government’s plan to increase the New Zealand content of locally-assembled cars was proposed in Auckland tonight by the president of the Ford Motor Company (Mr Arjay Miller).

The Ford company, he said, was prepared to put the “capital and know-how” into a New Zealand industry that would manufacture one car component for the entire Ford empire.

The assembly of Ford cars at Lower Hutt would cease and the works would concentrate upon the production of one component, most of which would go for export. In turn, under a bilateral trade agreement. New Zealand would import the equivalent value of completed Ford cars. The company already had a similar agreement in Canada, said Mr Miller. The Canadian speciality was engines. He said he had not discussed the proposal with Government heads. “We are not here to initiate anything, but we would be very ready to co-operate.” He agreed that he had had talks with the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake), but said it

; would not be proper to com- ■ ment on their nature. “All I can say on leaving ’ this country is that I am opi timistic.” Mr Miller said that if the I Government’s proposal to ini crease the New Zealand con- > tent of cars were adopted, ‘ the result would be a price I increase. His alternative would lead to no increase and would not be a drain upon ’ dollar reserves. Asked whether he could ’ suggest which component ■ might be chosen for manu- • facture in New Zealand, he said that no thought had yet ' been given to this question. The abundance of hydroI electric power and the avail- • ability of aluminium suggest- : ed that a component incorpor-

ating this material could be selected. “We would be glad to undertake studies to see which would best fit your economy,” he added. “For each million pounds’ worth of parts you exported we would send you a million pounds’ worth of cars. “We understand your aspirations and problems and we have the complementary things to bring to the marriage: we have the capital and the know-how.” Import Allocations He said he fully understood the need for New Zealand to impose fresh import restrictions, but thought the most practical means of tackling the problem would be to adjust the import allocations in favour of the more popular cars. “We should allow consumer preference to govern the choice.” Some £2m had recently been spent on the Ford works at Lower Hutt. There was also great scope for expansion at Wiri. This would not come until demand justified it. During an eight-day tour of New Zealand he had met 82 dealers. Road Safety On road safety, Mr Miller said that America’s death toll was still less than that of any other nation. Though there were new features for manufacturers to adopt, there was also an urgent need for the improved education of drivers. It was the driver and not the car that caused the crash.