NEW CARS

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23287, 24 August 1945, Page 4

NEW CARS

Arrival By Christmas Expectation Of Trade Prices Not Yet Known Recently the Government announced that importers in New Zealand are now permitted licences for the import of unassembled cars for the 1946 licensing period up to 75 per cent of the total value of assembled and unassembled cars imported from the United Kingdom in 1938. With a greater number of people than ever before interested in cars and in a position to buy them, the question of price and time of arrival is uppermost. With the object of finding the answer a representative of "The Timaru Herald” paid a visit to a number of motor retailers yesterday. In nearly every case the retailers hope to have some new English cars available for purchase by the general public by the end of the year, but as shipping and manpower are factors to be taken into consideration, nothing definite could be obtained as regards price. It is possible that stabilisation of prices may come into the question, and no dealer was prepared to quote figures. Manufacturers in England have gone into production on a limited scale and will be distributing vehicles to the Empire on a quota basis. “The public are alarmed over the announcement by some authorities about the high price which will be asked for new cars,” said one dealer, “but in many cases the prices which have been published are for cars which will arrive in New Zealand fully assembled and subject to higher duty and shipping costs. Those which are assembled in New Zealand will be appreciably lower. The trade is hopeful that the new cars will not be excessive in price, although they will certainly be up on pre-war models but not to the extent quoted by some motor representatives in the North Island.” In 1937 new cars sold in New Zealand from all sources totalled 29,944, of which 58 per cent were British; in 1941. 3321 cars were sold, of which 91 5 per cent were British, and in 1944. 31 cars came on the market. 47 per cent being of British manufacture.

With regard to the new models, one of Britain’s biggest manufacturers, in a letter written three weeks before V-J Day, said that thev were still under the direction of the United Kingdom Government, but the position should have altered radically since the cessation of hostilities. The new models which every garage is anxiously awaiting will to all intents and purposes be the same as the last pre-war cars to come off the assembly lines in England. American Cars Car manufacturers in the United States are unable to give dealers any information about their new models, one of the reasons being revolutionary designs in the power units, and manufacturers are loath to announce trade secrets before the time is ripe. According* to a recent survey made on behalf of one of the leading automobile journals of America, nearly 1.000,000 motor vehicles will be needed for replacements in the various countries of the British Empire (excluding Great Britain) as soon as adequate supplies of new automobiles are available. Immediate replacement needs are placed at 60 per cent of the total number of

motor vehicles in these countries, and garage and service equipment requirements are proportionately large. New Zealand's replacement requirements, it is estimated, will be in the vicinity of 120.000 cars and 30,000 trucks. It is considered that about 73 per cent of the Dominion’s trucks are more than five years old and two-thirds of her cars more than nine years old. While American cars have been few and far between in the last few years, American trucks of the latest type have been available to busmess firms with a high priority, and some have been assembled in New Zealand during the war years. Factories which have been manufacturing munitions up till the cessation of hostilities are rapidlv reverting to their old assembly lines for trucks, and one factory which has been making four trucks a week is expected soon to be turning out 20 a dav. Used Car Market “Prices ruling to-day are out of all proportion.’’ said one dealer. “It is making it hard for men returning from overseas who have to buy a car for business purposes. It is highly probable that the price of used cars will drop now that the war is over.” Another dealer recalled that during the Great War a firm which was manufacturing cars in Timaru at that time was able to sell second-hand models for more than £3OO. By 1919 the market had dropped to half that price. That did not necessarily follow that such would be the case this time, he concluded, but already the high prices of a few weeks ago appear to be on the decline. A third dealer succinctly commented: “To-day the public will buy anything on four wheels that goes, such is the shortage.’’