STILL FAR AWAY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 3, 10 March 1947, Page 5

STILL FAR AWAY

ANY LARGE INFLUX IN NEW CARS

It is now evident that New Zealand will not see a large influx of new cars for some considerable time, and that many intending buyers of a new model will have to shelve their desire until large overseas shipments of post-war classes are landed. Labour troubles and shortages of essential materials and components are to blame for the holdup in production in the U.S.A. and Canada, and the paucity of shipments of chassis to this country.

A Million Cars Short

An idea of the way in which output schedules of post-war cars have been shattered in America by strikes is the fact that that nation’s largest maker of automobiles—General Motors—were at the middle of July, down over a million passenger cars compared with the same period in 1941. The whole of that country’s huge automobile industry has been more or less affected similarly, and to a considerable degree also in Canada.

British-built chassis are coming forward in fair quantities, but only in sufficient volume to whet the appetites of the many tens of thousands of intending buyers of new cars, and the same applies equally to machines of Canadian and U.S.A. origin.

The sober fact has now to be faced that the average motorist’s chance of getting a new car at any early date is remote, and most would-be buyers will have to drive their old cars for some time to come.

Reconditioning the Old Car

In many instances, that means that instead of trading in one’s pre-war car immediately, money will now have to be expended in having it reconditioned so as to ensure continued operation and freedom from mechanical breakdown.

Now that spare parts, tyres, batteries, etc., are becoming more freely available, the needs of old cars can be better catered for. 'Money spent in overhauling and smartening up an old vehicle not only assures better service, but will add to its trade-in value when its owner has the opportunity of procuring a post-war model. In that respect, it is an investment.