Auto Gossip

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33034, 29 September 1972, Page 13

Auto Gossip

by

A. J. P.

Suicidal stroll I believe I nearly killed someone last week-end. Well, perhaps it was not as close as that—but the potential was certainly there. I was driving back to Christchurch on the Main South Road about 8 p.m., in darkness, when suddenlv my wife warned, “There’s someone there,” and at the same time I saw a slightly more solid area in the darkness ahead, and swerved into the road. Luckily I was going at such a speed that I could swerve, and just as luckily there was, for the moment, no vehicle coming the other way. The Someone was a pack-laden hitchhiker, a man, He had no torch, was dressed com-

pletely in dark clothes, and had his back to the oncoming traffic. The only lightcoloured area was his fist, emerging from his outstretched dark sleeve, thumb up. And he was well out from the edge of the road. If this stupid fellow made it to his destination without being hit, he was very, very lucky. I am sure he must have scared the daylights out of a lot of drivers apart from me. If he had been hit, he could not have blamed anyone but himself. Sometimes I think there should be an offence called “dangerous walking” as well as one called “dangerous driving.” Wake-up time The staff of some Christchurch motor firms have still to learn that the newcar market situation has changed in recent times, a friend of mine suggests. In times when firms must sell: on a competitive market, some are unlikely to survive unless they and their staff change their attitudes pretty smartly. The days of easy sales and “take it or leave it” are—at least for the time being.—over. My friend wants to buy a new car. He had two models on his

short list, and went to see two firms which were agents for the two makes. Both firms said they hoped to have cars within a couple of days. Although both are large franchise-holders, they were temporarily out of the models in which my friend was interested. One salesman was also out of brochures, and said he would mail one within a day or so. The other firm promised to telephone in a day or so when its expected shipment of cars arrived. This was several weeks ago. My friend is still waiting for his telephone call, and his mailed brochure. But he has decided that if he does buy either of these models, he will do so from other firms.

Comparisons The attitude of the car salesmen in this tale is interesting to compare with the attitude of those dealing in other products. I have found that salesmen for many home appliances are similarly half asleep, and I have made certain that some did not get my personal business as a result. In some Christchurch department stores, the customer who seeks service at morning or afternoon-tea time is almost certainly doomed to disappointment. But cars, of course, are in a much more expensive field. Compare the lackadaisical attitude of some car firms, then, with the attitude of many of those firms selling houses. To take the comparison further, I’m told that one firm (not in Christchurch) had splendid results from its sales staff when, to quit a slow-moving line of vehicles, it offered a commission to the salesman selling each one. But whatever the answer, there is little doubt that many car firms, like many other sales organisations, need to shift to a higher gear.