MOTOR IMPORTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 2696, 16 February 1924, Page 1

MOTOR IMPORTS.

THREEFOLD 1 NOR RASE IX VALUE. DEMAND FOR CM EAR VEHIt I.ES.

A slriking increase in the number and value of motor vehicles imported into New Zealand is shown bv the figures for last year, compared io a return specially complied for the “New Zealand Herald” by the Comptroller of Customs, the,value of last year’s imports was ,02,421, 945. as against 0881,137, in the previous year—a threefold increase. The number of vehicles represented is 13,944, against 3.999. The imports of motor bicycles were valued a I 0142,417, as against 054,599. The value of motor tyres was 0740. 225. as against 0478.230 in 1922..

The average cost of each imported vehicle last year was 0173, as against.l*22o in the previous year. The allround reduction was therefore 047. per unit, equivalent to ahoul 20 per eenf. Another reading of the figures is that the demand was for lower-priced machines, and an examination of the importations according to I lie country of origin bears out this explanation. The reduction in price and the demand for cheaper motors taken together are the apparent cause of the greatly reduced cost per unit; and lower prices creating a keener demand will uLo have been in part responsible for Ibe abnormal importations. Greater prosperity, in town and country, and greater buying power are also indicated.

The rate of increase For motor cars was, however, greater than that for commercial vehicles, in which classification are included lorries, trucks. vans, and buses. Twenty-nine per cent, of last year’s importations by numbers and about the same percentage by value came to Auckland. Fxaminittg the imports according 1. 1 the country of origin, it is shown that in numbers Canada leads any other country. The preponderance in value is by no means so marked in each it is lost in the return for commercial vehicles. \\ hereas last vear 925 Canadian lorries, etc., cost £81,589,217 of British make cost £121,034 —average, roughly of £9O against £550 per vehicle. Similar striking results, dernonslrating the cheapness of the Canadian product, can be obtained under several headings. The imports From Canada and the United States have increased at a much greater rate than those from Britain. This indicates the greater demand for the lower-priced motors. The expansion of the motor-body building industry is also seen in the returns of vehicles imported without bodies. A total of 748 was credited to Auckland under this head last year, as against 174 in 1922. For the whole Dominion the corresponding tigures are 2451 and 805, an increase of 200 per cent. Of these chassis imported without bodies, by far the greater proportion were for commercial vehicles. Figures for j last year show that of 12,359 cars imported, only 913 came without bodies, while of 1585 commercial vehicles only £7 came with bodies.