Efforts To Hold Car Prices

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31277, 25 January 1967, Page 14

Efforts To Hold Car Prices

Every effort would be made to keep down the export price of cars made in Britain, said the chairman and managing director of the British Motor Corporation (Sir George Harriman) in Christchurch yesterday.

B.M.C. was determined not to lose its share of the world market, he said. The outlook for the British motor-car industry was certainly not black now: it could be described as grey. However, B.M.C. was certainly not afraid of the future, and was determined to hold export prices. Unfortunately, he added, he could not see cars becoming Cheaper. On a brief visit to New Zealand to meet distributors and discuss some of their problems, Sir George Harriman said that in the future of the motor industry, much depended on the volume of vehicles which could be manu-

factored and sold; but here, again, he expressed confidence.

Sir George Harriman predicted one assembly plaint for the whole of New Zealand for B.M.C. vehicles, instead of two as at present, and an increasing amount of domestic content in them.

A study group was examining these and related questions, and one plant could be expected in five years, he added. The time was coming when New Zealand could expect to have more domestic content in cars assembled in this country, but it was difficult to say just when this would be. Asked about the insistence by American authorities on higher standards of construction safety in cars exported to the United States, Sir George Harriman said that many of the requirements were already met by British cars.

However, investigations were being made into some of the requirements which require extensive retooling, and it was likely that manufacturers would ask for an exten-

sion of the date of January 1, next year—the time fixed by the Americans for the standards to be met

Questioned on the steps taken in Britain towards smaller cars for cities, to reduce traffic congestion and ease parking, Sir George Harriman said surveys had been carried out which showed the high proportion of cars which carried only one or two persons into cities. However, B.M.C. took a lot of the credit for designing smaller cars with its mini series, even though they could carry four persons easily. Asked what sort of cars were now demanded, he said that all motorists demanded at least four-seaters, four cylinders, four-corner suspension, and four wheels. There was a variation in the demand, from year to year, of the size of cars, and this tend-

ed to go in cycles. Asked for his opinion of the 70 miles-an-hour maximum speed limit on some highways in Britain,. Sir George Harriman said it was his personal view that the limit tended to take the driver’s attention to his speedometer.

He was also questioned on the standard of B.M.C. cars manufactured in Australia, and said that there was freedom there for including some modifications for domestic requirements. This explained some differences in, for instance, the method of window opening, between B.M.C. cars from Britain and from Australia. Sir George Harriman’s answer was short and to the point when he was asked how he would view a cut by the New Zealand Government in car imports. “I wouldn’t like it at all,” he said.