Panelbeating dearer

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33521, 30 April 1974, Page 3

Panelbeating dearer

Inflation, higher wages, and shortages of parts and labour meant that the cost of car body repairs was not likely to fall, said the president of the Motor Body Builders’ Association (Mr J. A. Waddell) at the opening of the association’s conference in Christchurch yesterday.

Most body repair materials came from overseas, Mr Waddell said, and they brought with them a share of the “massive inflation” of their countries of origin.

The main New Zealand content was labour, which was also costing more. The industry was caught in a "pincer movement” between rising costs and a vocal demand for stable prices, he said.

The main reason for increased delays in getting crash-damaged vehicles back on the road was a shortage of parts. These shortages also added to the cost of finding parts, which could involve a search all over the country, and even overseas, Mr Waddell said. STAFF TRAINING The shortage of labour was critical in the body repair division of the industry, and its implications were so

serious that the industry and the Government should consider pre-trade training, he said. Entrants would then receive full-time training in technical institutes before starting practical work. Apprenticeship training was necessarily slow, and often staff was trained only to be absorbed into other parts of the motor industry. Mr Waddell forecast that in spite of the present concern about fuel, there was a bright future for motor vehicles. The fuel shortage was transitory, he said, and use of the car would con-

tinue and widen even if there were changes in motive power. HELP TO POLICE The conference was addressed during the morning by the Minister of Police and Customs (Mr Connelly), who praised the co-operation between the industry and the police when damaged vehicles were involved, especially in cases of "hit and run” accidents. I He asked that vehicle re- [ pairers continue to report [ any suspicious or unusual occurrences to the police.