M.T.A. to focus on range of important issues

Press, 28 July 1989, Page 38

M.T.A. to focus on range of important issues

Many important issues facing the New Zealand motor industry will be discussed by the Motor Trade Association at its annual conference in Palmerston North from October 8 to 11. Among the matters to be talked about are the effects of the recent deregulation of the oil industry, proposed licensing of tow truck operators, legislation regarding the automotive air-conditioning industry, complete changes to the motor vehicle registration system, the importance of retraining to cope with new technology, the importation of Japanese vehicles and several other issues.

Considering that the conference will open for business at 8.30 a.m. on the Monday and close in time for delegates to attend the Woodville races on the Wednesday afternoon, it seems likely that some of those issues will have scant attention devoted to them.

On top of that, there will be some interesting speakers at the conference, including Jim Millar, Ford New Zealand’s recently appointed boss, and Dick Johnson, this year’s Australian Touring Car Championship winner. Johnson, who races a Cosworth Ford Sierra RSSOO, is quite a colourful character, and this year he further distinguished himself by winning his fifth touring car title, equalling the record set by lan Geohegan 20 years ago.

On the Tuesday afternoon Johnson will be the focal point of an outing at the Manfeild motor racing circuit, where he will give some pointers on race driving and exhibitions, along with Robbie Lester, the Manfeild track promoter, and his race driver son, Richard. Taken by and large, this M.T.A. conference has the makings of a good one. Let’s hope that the issues, which are important, are not drowned in the entertainment.

I wonder how many New Zealanders realise that the Mercedes-Benz is not made by a German company going under that name? In case you didn’t, it is probably appropriate to advise that until the beginning of this month, Mercedes-Benz cars and commercial vehicles were made by the Stuttgartbased Daimler-Benz AG, a firm that came into existence as the result of a merger between DaimlerMotorengellschaft and Benz and Cie.

BEHIND THE WHEEL

Peter Greenslade

Daimler-Benz used to be largely dominated by its cars and commercials, for they accounted for 75 per cent of the turnover.

Other Daimler-Benz products include very high quality kitchen appliances, such as cookers, dishwashers and so on. This line is now establishing itself on the New Zealand market.

Generally speaking, Daimler-Benz Ag has been recognised only as a West German quality carmaker and on July 1, at the annual meeting of the company, the shareholders agreed formally that recognition should be given to that fact when it was decided that a subsidiary should be formed and it should be known as Mercedes-Benz AG. The new company is wholly owned by Daimler-Benz AG, has a capital stock of DM 1.8 billion and has full responsibility for all technical and administrative tasks relating to development, production and sale of cars and commercial vehicles.

The new company is run by a five-member board of management under the chairmanship of Professor Werner Niefer.

Already Mercedes-Benz AG has been described as the youngest German vehicle company with the longest tradition! As the youngest German carmaker, it is not doing badly, for it employs about 220,000 people around the world and has seven works scattered through West Germany. Actually, the board of management of the new company has not really declared its hand as yet, although Professor Niefer has said that as far as cars are concerned the company wishes to remain No. 1 in the upper segment of the market, offering exclusive vehicles bearing the "Made in Germany” label. He went on to emphasise

that Mercedes-Benz would consolidate its leading position in this segment and would, in future, be presenting a new vehicle each year. . A new vehicle a year is something that luxury carmakers don’t usually contemplate, and in fact, with the possible exception of BMW, the German competitor for MercedesBenz, I’m at a loss to name another manufacturer who pursues such a policy. BMW has, in the past, come up with new models with remarkable frequency, as it produces 3, 5, 6 and 7 Series models, as well as Motorsport or “M” variations of all of them. BMW is geared to introduce new models at relatively short, yearly intervals, but under the shadow of Daimler Benz AG, the Mercedes-Benz has been a car that has attracted its prestige to some extent because of its acknowledged and accepted model longevity. While the world’s car mass-producers are geared to make frequent model changes it must be admitted that many of the changes are cosmetic or simply facelifts. I’ve no doubt that Mercedes-Benz is not about to embark upon such a policy which, in effect, is nothing more than a marketing ploy to keep the cash registers ticking. Bearing in mind that Mercedes-Benz, unlike BMW, produces a wide range of commercial vehicles, as well as cars, it could be no big deal to come up with a new car or truck each year, although certainly not either a car or a truck annually.

Internally this will probably produce a lot of headaches, most of which will be shared by the company’s 220,000 employees, world wide, to say nothing of the board of management. It will mean the development of new production cycles as well as what would be, to all intents and purposes, what amounts to a new, glorified production roster. There’s more to manufacturing luxury cars than meets the eye of the man in the street, whose only reaction to . a MercedesBenz parked nearby is likely to be a sagging jaw as he hurries back to his mass-produced hatchback made by robots in Japanese spawning plants.