The English Market.

Progress, 1 October 1907, Page 436

The English Market.

As France occupies a predominating position among automobile exporting countries, so England holds a leading place as an automobile importer. That England should be dependent upon other countries for her supply of mechanical road vehicles certainly is a very strange thing, in view of the fact that up to a few decades ago she was regarded (at least on the Continent) as the greatest mechanical workshop of the world. The English automobile journals claim that it was the shortsighted policy of the British Government in enforcing restrictive regulations concerning the operation of automobiles that prevented the motor-car industry in that country from keeping pace with that of other countries, notably France. This explanation however, fails to take account of the fact that the use of automobiles has developed in Great Britain quite as rapidly as in other countries, in proportion to population, and if legislation did not discourage the use of the automobile it is difficult to see how it could have adversely affected the manufacture thereof. The actual reasons, in the writer's opinion, why the English automobile industry has not kept pace with the English automobile movement are, first, that the investing public was early disgusted with the new industry by the exploits of irresponsible promoters • and, second, that when British firms eventually produced practical vehicles, owing to the country free-trade policy, they were hard-pressed by their foreign competitors, who had reached this stage somewhat earlier. In spite of these handicaps the British automobile industry has made great progress, especially during the past year, as is indicated b} r the records of exports. The British automobile imports have realty assumed enormous proportions In 1906 the aggregate value was nearly s^millions, representing approximate ly 10,000 cars.

Of the 3,644 410 miners m the world the United Kingdom, according to a new leturn has the largest number of any nation — 974 fi34 Germany has 814,352, the United States 007, 00<), Russia 344 255, and France 322,530