BRITISH CARS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18906, 22 January 1927, Page 16

BRITISH CARS.

DROP. IN PRICES. STILL ON DECLINE. It has been generally, accepted without question . throughout motoring circles that for reliability the British car led the world, but the fly in the amber was the 'first cost price. Undoubtedly had it not been for the Great War this would have been recti ; fled ere now, but a commencement has been made in earnest, according to a recent report emanating from the U.S. Government's commercial attache st'aitoried in London. Therein attention is.called to the steadily decreasing unit' prices for British cars, indicating a growing realisation by British manufacturers of the vast field of exploitation ahead of them, not only in the United Kingdom, but throughout the globe. These unit prices have dropped in the past four years 37 per cent., and they are still on the decline. An analysis shows that where there is a-car. to every 5.7 persons in the United States, there is only one car to every 65 inhabitants of the United Kingdom. Fuljy half the cars manufactured in Great Britain five years ago are still in use, the majority by their original owners, a striking tribute to the reliability of service furnished by these machines, and ( to the complete satisfaction of the owners. There are at present 650,000 automobiles in operation in the United Kingdom, and they are owned by but 3 percent, of the population. Twenty per cent, of the population of the United States own cars. This decrease in price, coupled with the steadily improving design aspect of British automotive'products, making for greater service in the countries overseas, cannot but have a most beneficial effect upon the development •of this country. It is characteristic of the British nation that it is slow to adopt a design until proved, but as soon as this takes places quantity production is tackled with the national thoroughness. _ This is well illustrated in the adoption of modern methods by some of the larger British car manufacturing concerns, which now possess rapid production machinery in advance of presont American practice; thuß in the future the reduction of price will be even morepronounced as the field of use widens. With such a combination of low first cost and low running costs, as an entering wedge, British motor advance should be irresistible.