H.—4o,

The above table shows a steady growth of the share of new cars obtained by Great Britain up till the depression year of 1933, when 6G per cent, came from that source. Then came a drop following upon the improving economic conditions, with a sudden increase for 1936-37 to 57 per cent., while for 1937-38 a similar percentage is maintained. This increase during a boom period is, no doubt, due to. the increase in the general prosperity of the community and to the increasing popularity of the light, economicalrunning makes of cars. Up to 1933-34 a somewhat similar trend is noticeable in the case of commercial vehicles, when 39 per cent, of the total came from Great Britain. Over the past four years this proportion has been slowly declining in favour of American and Canadian vehicles, and the imports from these two countries outnumber imports from Great Britain by over two to one. It should be noted that imports from " Other Countries " have been omitted from the percentage table; this is because practically all the figures under that heading refer to trailers, 2,639 of the 2,684 vehicles under that heading for 1937-38 being trailers. In the motor-cycle field the British entry shows an increasing predominance since the depression years, and the slight swing-over to American machines has not been maintained. Foreign motor-cycles do not appear to be able to establish any hold on the New Zealand motor-cycle market. C. MOTOR-VEHICLES LICENSED AS AT 31st MARCH, 1938. The appended figures show the number of motor-vehicles licensed for the year 1937-38 as at 31st March, 1938 (the licensing year expires on 31st May each year) : —

Table No. 1 of the Appendix shows the number of motor-vehicles registered as at 31st December 1937, grouped according to highway districts. The number of motor-vehicles licensed as at 31st March, 1938, classified according to postal districts, are set out in Table 2.

6

United StatesVof , , Year ended 31st March, ,, ., ■ America or f , , . p ■ , a ,. Britain. Canada Countries. Registration. Motor-cycles. 1927 .... 70 30 .. 100 1928 .... 76 24 .. 100 1929 .... 80 20 .. 100 1930 .... 81 19 .. 100 1931 .. .. 82 18 .. 100 1932 .... 76 24 .. 100 1933 .... 73 26 1 100 1934 .. 73 26 1 100 1935 .... 75 24 1 100 1936 .... 78 20 2 100 1937 .... 86 14 .. 100 1938 .... 90 10 .. 100 Totals 78 21 1 100

Type of Vehicle. North Island. South Island. Cars .. .. .. .. .. .. 126,476 64,078 190,554 Light trucks (2 tons and under laden) .. .. 17,558 9,032 26,590 Heavy trucks (over 2 tons laden) .. .. .. 13,821 6,609 20,430 Passenger trucks .. .. .. .. •. 963 432 1,395 Omnibuses .. .. • • . • ■ • 472 184 656 Taxis .. .. 1,178 577 1,755 Service cars .. .. ■ • • • • • 406 289 695 Rental and private-hire cars .. .. .. 424 289 713 Dealers'cars .. .. .. .. .. 1,274 563 1,837 Local-authority road vehicles .. .. .. 1,546 1,346 2,892 Government vehicles .. .. •• •• 1,850 853 2,703 Trailers .. .. .. • • .. •• 3,839 3,248 7,087 Dealers' motor-cycles .. • • ■ • • • 93 47 140 Motor-cycles .. .. • ■ • • • • 14,352 8,528 22,880 Totals .. •• •• •• •• 184,252 96,075 280,327