THE MOTOR INVASION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 278, 16 April 1913, Page 4

THE MOTOR INVASION.

A writer in the "Christchurch Pressgives a summary of the manner in which £ the motor invasion has progressed in; New Zealand. He remarks that there may be found those who see in this growth of a luxurious importation a feature of some financial danger to the country. In 1903 the importation of motor cars was small enough, costing only some £16,598 but by 1900, by great increases, the annual expense for new cars was £79,821. Then the invasion began in earnest. The figures are worth detailing:— £ 1907 192,110 1908 249,929 1909 182,257 1910 293,015 1911 507,452 1912 776,070

The capital value of the importations J for the past decade works out at practically £2,500,000, 'but this is not the most significant figures that may be advanced. The most significance attaches to the fact that last year New Zealand imported cars to the value of over three-quarters of a million sterling. In 1908 there was a financial stringency, and the result is seen in the following year -in a 25 per cent drop in importations; From the particulars that have been given, eertain deductions as to the course of the motor invasion are drawn bv the writer. It is plain that the day is rapidly going when the car nay be considered a luxurv. Farmers widely scattered in the country, have come to regard it as a necessity. By its means they are placed within striking distances of town, business, and friends. It is one of the greatest helps m all the amenities of lifo. It banishes isolation _ and seclusion, and with the annihilation of distance- promotes amity and happiness. That the farmers have become active participants in the j joys of the motor is at once a matter 1 of common knowledge and the subject I of confession on the part of motor sales- ■' men. That which has largely done this has been the coming of the* cheap car. And, with a cheaper car, sales advanced 1 enormously. In that fact, combined With a season of much prosperity, lies the explanation of the startling jump', of half a million in the imports in two* years. It is not the wealthy buyer, but the larger number of middle'class buyers who so swelled the imports last year. Financial questions are raised by' this expansion of. the motor ear business, and bankers and financiers are inclined to ask whether New Zealand is not indulging a little extravagantly in the luxury of the car. With the general desire for ears; bankers are able to tell something of the necessary financial measures that have to be taken to meet the f-ost. From the point of view of the iwmtrv, also, some cautious observers question if it is desirable that so much monev should go out of the Dominion and be lost for the purposes of legiti-' mate development. While seasons are "ood there possibly will be -slight difficulty felt, but in the event of anv sustained financial stringency there will probably be some regrets that so much ■mod money is tied up in an unrealisnble luxury. Yet, compared with the experiences of most other countries, the change from horse to motor traffic, is no more remarkable in the Dominion than it is abroad, remarks the correspondent. Tt is part of the revolution that is proceeding in traction facilities, and the coming of the motor is so inevitable that considerations of finance are. not likely to do more than .niomentarilv stay the invasion.