Bigger import presence tipped

Press, 24 March 1988, Page 52

Bigger import presence tipped

"The! removal of quantity ; restrictions on the importation of completely built-up cars will have the proportion of the market taken by imj ports [rise, says Bill Hartigan,| managing director of[ Ford New Zealand, Ltd. 1 j This was because the prjmium cost which import [licensing attached to built-up units would not exist, he said. Mr [Hartigan estimated in Cambridge last week that 40 per cent of New Zealand’s vehicle requirements would be im--pcrteil built-up by the

end; of next year, an increase of! more than 20 per; cent onj today’s imports. ’[ 1 j “I am presuming the absence of predatory‘or marginal [ pricing by overseas with excess capacity, which will be a feature of the worlld-wide automotive industry over the next decade or so,’’ he said. '' ■ H 7 j ! Ford planned to [ be a big assembler of vehicles in New Zealand, and its commitment; to that role was better established by’ its actions, than his words. :i ' [ [ [ -