POSITION REGAINED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23118, 18 February 1937, Page 13

POSITION REGAINED

AMERICAN CARS IN AUSTRALIA DECLINE IN BRITISH IMPORTS (From Our Own Correspondent) SYDNEY, Feb. 11. A continuous and serious decline in the proportion of United Kingdom cars and commercial vehicles on the road in Australia is noted by the Senior British Trade Commissioner, Mr R. W. Dalton. During the depression and while the United States remained solidly on the gold standard, British cars gained tremendously in favour here. As buying power increased, buyers in Ausiralia reverted to their former preference for American cars. “Australian import figures show that when the United Kingdom share of the Australian market begins to decline the United States begins to rise,” Mr Dalton says in his annual report to the British Government. “The truth is that the percentages of the United Kingdom and United States have varied almost directly with conditions of variation in the motor car trade alone.” A big difficulty for the British car manufacturers, Mr Dalton said, was,the fact that the largest body builders in Australia had allied themselves with the makers of the American cars which had the largest sale in Australia. In spite of the Ottawa agreement, British trade in Australia had declined appreciably during 1934-35, and figures for 1935-36 showed a further decline. Foreign countries were increasing their export trade with Australia. British manufacturers must adapt themselves to new conditions and concentrate on specialised lines.