BRITISH CARS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19885, 11 March 1939, Page 7

BRITISH CARS

LICENSE FOR IMPORTS

DUNEDIN DIFFICULTIES

Though most of the motor firms in Dunedin do not appear to be experiencing any difficulty so far in securing supplies of new cars under the import restrictions, one firm of direct importers of British cars has been severely hit by the control plan. The manager of the firm told a reporter that he was cut off with the number of cars he had on order when the restrictions were • announced on December 5 last, and though an appeal had been sent forward to the Minister of Customs, the Hon. _W. Nash, no variation of the original decision had so far been made. The whole of the material and labour employed in the manufacture of the cars was English the importer said, yet that line appeared to have been restricted by the Customs Department to an appreciably greater extent than others which were not wholly British in origin. Consequently he now had on hand about six weeks' supply of cars to last till the end of June. Similar difficulties were being experienced by importers of that line of cars in other centres, so that there was little likelihood of his being able to obtain supplies from elsewhere in New Zealand. The importer said that for the past two years plants for the assembly of these', cars in New Zealand had oecn erected in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, but since the drastic restriction experienced applies to completely knocked down units as well as to assembled cars it was difficult to see how these plants would be able to carry on, unless some relaxation of the restrictions was granted.