HIGHER STANDARDS

Southland Times, Issue 21264, 10 December 1930, Page 20

HIGHER STANDARDS

IN THE CAR AND TJIE HOME. The march of the manufacturer towards lower costs and lower prices has u? be considered in relation to the rising demand in the quality of the article to be manufactured. When a falling price meets an ascending standard, part of the fall in price becomes concealed by the higher cost of the improved article. The real price-fall is greater than appears. This position arises not onty in motor vehicle manufacture. The builder of a cheap dwelling house has the same problem to face, and there is no evidence yet that depression has lowered the standard of homes planned to be built in this country. Buyers are as quick to insist on luxury in home and in car as they are slow to see the sliding scale relationship of luxury and cost. To reduce price by the simple process of reducing luxury is not as simple in practice as it. looks. Public demand is the determining influence, but how shall demand be anticipated? The British manufacturer is, however, as resourceful as any other who may find himself on the horns of this common dilemma. The saving spirit of the average motorist, where it manifests itself at all, is expressed more readily in terms of running cost than of first cost. In other words, the benzine bill interests him more than the interest bill. He is far less appreciative of the interest value of £5OO or £lOOO, than of the out-of-pocket meaning of big mileage and little mileage. He seldom reflects that the interest value of £5OO is at least 10/- a week. He does, however, weigh the comparative prices of rival cars. Nominal price thus influences him, and so it remains a fact that the right retail price (having regard to luxury and economy) is necessary to the success of British . four-cylinder and light six-cylinder cars in the New Zealand market.; And appearance is essential. Over a period of. years the prices of motor vehicles have been falling, but the year 1929 did not record a fall. Indeed, the figures of average value for that year actually showed a slight rise. According to the Motor Trade in New Zealand (published by the Charles Haines Advertising Agency) the average value of motor cars (apart from commercial vehicles) imported in 1929 was slightly in excess of the 1928 figure, but was still lower than in any other year. The average values since 1922 are given bv this authority as under: £ 1922 .. . 202 1923 167 1924 M 187 1925 196 1926 166 1927 .. 152 1928 141 1929 146 In commercial vehicles the average value showed a small fall (£1), the average at port of shipment being £193 for 1928 and £192 for 1929. The average value over the past six years (writes the Motor Trade in New Zealand) is 1924 ’25 ’26 ’27 ’2B ’29 <£££££ £ U. Kingdom.. 547 465 392 290 316 319 Canada ~ .. 101 65 94 83 91 105 LLS.A. 251 268 221 170 172 153 But just as the whole Canadian-United States situation has been affected by tariff changes, so has the whole motor trade been affected by depression, and one must not attach too much importance to the statistics far the years 1920-29.' Neither aggregate figures nor the figures for countries of brigin are to be unduly relied on in looking to the future. The thing that counts is the increasing tendency of people to demand real economic value—and the ability ttE British manufacturers to supply it.