IMPORTS OF CARS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27567, 8 December 1950, Page 6

IMPORTS OF CARS

Owners and would-be owners of motor cars all over New Zealand are wondering what, in practice, will be the “much greater import” of motor cars which, according to a statement by the Minister of Industries and Commerce, Mr Bowden, is the aim of tha Government. In view of the shortage, reported in our columns yesterday, of certain types of light English cars due to the demands of the armament programme it is difficult to see how this country’s requirements of cars will be met for some considerable time to come. While cars remain in short supply the “inducement to improper practices,” of which Mr Bowden spoke, will remain. From reports that have appeared in various newspapers in the Dominion it would appear to be unfortunately true that cases of evasion of the regulations regarding the sale of new vehicles do occur. The same situation prevailed during the time that a belated effort was made to control the prices of second-hand cars, but the system proved so ineffectual in operation that the present Government wisely revoked the regulations that existed to no other effect than to be brought into disrepute. The answer to the problem, as Mr Bowden acknowledges, is the importation of motor cars in sufficient quantities to eliminate the possibility of profit from illegal dealing. The' position regarding commercial vehicles appears to be satisfactory. The Government has recognised that a large proportion of the present number of vehicles used in the carriage of goods is old and uneconomic, and a substantial increase in the value of imports has been promised for 1951. The same conditions of deterioration and lack of economy in use apply also to a considerable number of the cars which are driven daily over the roads of New Zealand. Importations of new cars have been insufficient to bring about the withdrawal of the “ veterans ” which, because of their very age, must constitute a hazard on the highways. The Government, in recognising the need for greater numbers of cars will not, of course, be stampeded into making available for their purchase a sum out of proportion to the amounts allocated for the more necessary needs of every day life, but the improved financial condition of the country due to continued high prices for wool should warrant a somewhat more tolerant view of the need* «£ car owners in New Zealand-