CHEAP MOTOR-CARS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XVIII, Issue XVIII, 24 October 1912, Page 3

CHEAP MOTOR-CARS.

The London Daily Express is seriously alarmed about ohe importation oi Cheap American mo&or-eaii> into lireat lirrcuin. The figures it presents are certainly, impressive, in it>o9 tne number ot cars imported, from the United {States was 42, in" 19IU it was liUl, and in iyil y<b4, while this year's hgures are expec ced to show a stiii greater increase, i'hese figures do not include cars imported an parts and put together in Jlingiand; 6uUO cars or one make are saici to have been imported in this way and sold last year. According to the Express, American firms competing for the .English market are specialising in light cheap cars. Already in New York a two-seater car is on sal© at £70, and a four-seater car for £119 3 and a certain iirm is making preparations to invade tne English market with a £50 twoseater runabout, and a four-seater car for the family costing only £100. American manufacturers can turn out care at this price, it is explained, because of their enormous output, one firm being able to turn out 100,000 in a year. The sale of cheap cars in the United States is enormous, this type having been brought within the reach of the small farmer and the artisan. In the district of Columbia there is actually a motor-car to every 35 persons, while in several States the proportion ranges from one to forty-five to one to sixty, and in sixteen States it is about one to every 100. This is for pleasurecars only. In Great Britain the proportion of cars is one to every 200 persons, but this includes every class of vehicle. English manufacturers are accused of having neglected the cheap car, and it is estimated that if a good type of car were placed on the English market at £120, a quarter of a million people would soon buy it.