Motor Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19721, 11 December 1926, Page 21 (Supplement)

Motor Notes

WOLSELEY'S FAILURE SENSATIONAL NEWS ITEM. PROMINENT FIRM’S COLLAPSE. The winding up of Wolseley Motors. Ltd., on a creditor’s petition is sensational news to overseas motorists. The Wolseley was one of the first British cars to become popular in New Zealand. and the company has been prominent in motor design for over a de-

cade. The Wolseley firm is one of the few larger British companies which has not followed motor racing. Instead it has concentrated on advancing the design of orthodox touring cars, and several are owned in and around Wanganui. During the war the Wolseley plant was devoted tn the production of vehicles for official use. Since then the factories have tu*aed out modern types of cars but have failed to make satisfactory financial headway. A number of other famous British cars have been in the same situation, and although car sales have been extensively improved, the companies have been working on very small profits. The capital of Wolseley Motors was £300,000. No dividends were paid dur-

ing 1923 and 1924. The maximum price at which £1 shares have changed hands during the last year was 5/-. The lowest was 1/84. Last, September buyers were offering 1/9. The Wolseley Company has been producing three models lately. They comprised four-cylinder cars of 11 h.p., 16 h.p., and a 24 h.p. six. A new low-priced light six of 16 h.p. was introduced at the Olympia show a month ago. Its production at that time indicates that the present drastic situation was not anticipated.