MOTOR CARS FOR ALL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1634, 28 December 1912, Page 2

MOTOR CARS FOR ALL.

THE ,£IOO TWO-SEATER. Motor-cars for all may not be-desirable, but the descent in prices (says the London "Mail") will make them possible to most, as the Motor Exhibition at Olympiad shows. To possess a car is no longer a pleasure and a convenience reserved for the rich.. Not only have prices come down within tho means of the hard-work-ing professional or small 1 business man, the cost of running has 'also dropped largely, owing to simplifications of design and to, lightness of bodies, resulting in less -wear upon tires. What is now chiefly , needed is standardisation of parts, and here comes in the British manufacturer's opportunity. Thero is talk at present of a w£500,000 plant being erected for the construction of small cars on a largo scale. If that proves true, tho American makers of the excellent' low-priced cars, which sell in such large numbers hero, will have-keen competition to meet. They havo shown not only how to build cheaply, but also how to sell. Their business methods are well worth study. In the higher-priced classes Britain holds her own well. Franco cannot now show better engines or more attractive body-building than our best firms. With cars of medium value—say, from -£2-50 to .£4oo—we can safely meet our rivals. Now it only remains for the British manufacturer to overcome his deeply-rooted objection to supplying a cheaper article. Naturally the .£IOO car, when it comes, will not bo as solid or as lasting as the dearer makes. But it-will serve very well the purpose of many thousands of people who are ready and anxious to taste the joy of driving their own two-seaters. The taxi-cab is already enrolled among the necessities of life.in a town. The private motor-car will soon become equally a necessity among country dwollors.