Petrol sales down as much as fifth: garages cut hours

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34105, 18 March 1976, Page 1

Petrol sales down as much as fifth: garages cut hours

No-one who owns a car is thrilled about the price of petrol, but this is nothing compared with the unease about the profitability of selling it felt by several of Christchurch’s garage

owners.

The lowered profit margin had affected all those contacted by “The Press,” but a more serious note for most seemed to be the drop in sales since the last price increase.

It varied, but 10 per cent was common and 20 per cent was mentioned a few times.

Some garages have reduced their hours of trading, particularly at week-ends, and this has added to their drop in sales.

One owner said that it was impossible to make any profit on Saturday or Sunday, when it cost S 4 an hour to pay a pump attendant. Another said that those who opened at week-ends were, “just mugs.”

Another approach to the problem has been to reduce staff. Barrington Mall Services, Ltd, had two workers full-time on Saturday and Sunday, and another to help out during the peak hours. The garage has now cut out the third person, and just hopes that its customers do not mind waiting in a queue. Another owner has reduced

his permanent staff from four to three, including himself.

It meant working a lot harder, which in itself was not a bad thing, he said, but if it were not for the workshop he would soon be broke. His petrol sales and workshop formerly were equal in terms of total business, but the nroportion was now about 40:60, the workshop being more profitable.

The last thing he would think of buying at the moment was a service station relying solelv on the sales of petrol and oil.

His comment about the workshop’s being the mainstay of the business was echoed by other garage owners. One said that his business was mostly workshop, and petrol sales were always small. Now, the petrol pump was just a nuisance.

One owner who was feeling the pinch, wondered if his representatives on the

Canterbury branch of the Motor Trade Association were doing all they could at Government level to get a bigger margin. “Most of us are self-employed,” he said. “And we are the only ones who have not had a rise.” A gradual reduction in sales in the last five years from 20,000 gallons a month to 14,000 was reported by one proprietor. His feeling was that he would be better off selling small motor-cycles, than selling the petrol for them. “Some of them do about 200 miles to the gallon,” he said. Sales of accessories and tyres have also fallen. The reason for the former was not known, but it was suggested by several people that the money which would normally buy such things had been put towards the petrol bill. Even the car wash is being patronised less, and sales of car polish have dropped at

Barrington Mall Services, Ltd.

The owners of the garage said that one big problem with the increase in petrol price was both credit owing from customers and the amount the garage had to pay the oil company had increased. This caused liquidity problems, and only yesterday they had received a letter saying that their overdraft would' cost them more.

Mr N. Sutherland, of Sutherland’s Service Station, Ltd, said his petrol sales had not dropped, although he was very concerned about the reduced profit and increased costs. He considered, however, that garages without the very large gallonage and the position on a main highway, which he enjoyed, might well be in a difficult situation.

Fortunately for Christchurch motorists, particularly those in Bumside, there is at least one garageman with a sense of humour. He still has the heart to call out ribald comments to customers who used to fill their cars on the way to work and who now ride past on their bicycles.