MOTOR IMPORTS

Grey River Argus, 30 January 1946, Page 4

MOTOR IMPORTS

INCREASE FOR N.Z. WELLINGTON, January 28. Increased import licence allocations for motor vehicles are announced by the Minister of Customs (Mr Nash). These would mean 3000 more English ears, or an estimated total of 12,000 in the current licensing period, said Mr A. W. H. Brown, New Zealand representative of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, London, to-day. In respect of trucks, the increase would restore the total to the 1938 level of 1440. Mr Brown said he based his estimates of the totals on a 50 per cent, increase in costs over 1938, and where the percentage of increase was greater, the total number of vehicles imported would be correspondingly reduced below the figures he had quoted. The money value of the increased allocations was £1,400,000 sterling, of which about £1,000,000 would go to English manufacturers. This was quite satisfactory. He believed some importers would have exhausted their licences by July, and he anticipated that there would be more English cars and trucks available for New Zealand than even the extended licences would cover.