THE MOTOR INDUSTRY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20288, 22 December 1927, Page 12

THE MOTOR INDUSTRY.

DOMINION MARKET REACHING STABILITY. (Special to Daily Times.) WELLINGTON, December 21. “Everybody tells me you are turning the corner. There seems to be a happy feeling all through New Zealand that the worst is over. You have a wonderful country, and I think there are good times ahead for all.” With these words Mr A. S. Murray (vice-president of the General Motors Export Company, New York), who is at present in Wellington, summed up his observations during a tour ho has just made of the North Island and a part of the South Island. “ Since my arrival in Hie Dominion a fortnight ago I have been over many of your roads, which I consider are in surprisingly good condition,” he said to-day. Discussing the motor industry, Mr Murray said that by entering a little more deeply into the commerce of the countries in which his firm operated, it hoped to dispel the idea that it'was a foreign enterprise. “ Oiir policy,” he pointed out, “is to purchase more and more in these countries. That, of course, is a little difficult in New Zealand, because it is not a large manufacturing country. From my own observations I believe that New Zealand is rapidly approaching the saturation point, and that it will soon become a stabilised market for replacement. The population cannot absorb many more motor cars. The next development,” Mr Murray added, “ will be towards an improvement in the existing cars rather than in the production of new models. I do not think we can look in the immediate future for any new product. Our volume of trade in America, where there is one car to every five people, is not increasing very rapidly. The market there is just about stabilised. The changes are taking place among the manufacturers rather than in the trade itself.” Mr Murray will leave for Sydney on Friday, and while in Australia he will visit Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth before leaving for England via Alexandria.