Body builders feeling pinch

Press, 15 April 1978, Page 7

Body builders feeling pinch

The recent slump in the transport industry has hit motor-body builders. Mr K. Rogers, president of] the Motor-body Builders’ j Association, told the association’s annual conference in Napier that the industry had suffered more than most from the recession affecting export and servicing businesses. The drop in business i had been at a time when body builders could not re-i cover extra costs arising! from overseas inflation. A declining transport industry meant falling sales of commercial vehicles, and in turn less work for the industry. Mr Rogers said that a national survey of body builders last week had shown a big drop in business, especially over the last six months. Transport firms had been hesitant to expand because of confusion over the new road-user charges, said Mr Rogers, who blamed lack of

information from Govern- : ment departments. The survey had shown f.thai body builders had little 1 j faith in conditions improj ving soon. Firms in smaller L centres were by far the 1 hardest hit, and for some staff lay-offs were a very , real prospect. ’ Many firms were surviving on repair work, but a [ifall in caravan sales meant _l that caravan manufacturers ,|had also turned to body- ’! building. i “Total sales of commercial 1 vehicles in New Zealand’ ' during November last year 1 were down 25 per cent on November, 1976,” Mr Rogers] said. Progressive introduction • of sales tax on commercial! i vehicle bodies, other than j ■ buses, would compound the : transport industry’s prob-! lems. i It was difficult to see the] > necessity for such measures ’ when the industries they • affected were already going : through a slump, he said.