SOUTHERN ASIA
Page 40
Page 41
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
a Profitable Market for British Commercial Motors
Road-motor Registrations More Than Trebled Since 1926. Sales of Lorries and Buses Expected to Exceed 20,000 During 1931
AFGUANISTAN is reported to possess 1,561 miles of roads. One of the first acts of the new King was to authorize the repair and reconstruction of this system, and during 1930 £61,000 was appropriated for roads. The taxes on motor vehicles and petrol were also removed and the utmost is being done to,encourage the purchase of lorries. The number of commercial vehicles registered in Afghanistan, last year, was 115, of which many were new.
India has 225,280 miles of roads, but more than twothirds of this mileage is still =surfaced. During the past two years about £13,500,000 has been expended on roads, and future funds are assured in the form of 90 per cent, of a tax on imported petrol. It is reported that on January 1st last there were 31,119 lorries and 26,129 buses in operation.
North America exported, an average of 9604 commercial motors to India yearly from 1926 to 1929. Last year the total from this source was 9,100 units, and in view of the fact that
imports from all countries during the past nine months totalled 9,061 units, it may be assumed that 75 per cent. of India's commercial-vehicle imports in 1930 came from the United States and Canada.
AFGHANIVAN KA8U1?
India Favours 20-seaters.
Most of the buses in use in India have locally built bodies mounted on lorry chassis and 20-seaters are the most popular. These vehicles not only supplement tramway services in some of the larger cities, but they tend to form the chief means for passenger transport in many of the smaller towns. Large buses are not yet widely used, an exception being Bombay, where some 100 vehicles with locally made bodies on Thornycroft 5-ton chassis are giving good service.
The demand for chassis still centres on 1-ton and 30-cwt. types, mainly owing to low purchasing power and regulations limiting the weight of vehicles on certain roads. Most of these chassis are supplied oy North America. The heavy-duty field is limited, the majority in use B26 being British vehicles supplied to the requirements of the Indian Army. There is a certain demand for 2-2kton lorries, and here again British vehicles find favour. The import tariff on lorries and buses is 20 per cent. ad valorena.
Roads are virtually non-existent in Tibet and until the end of 1929 motors were unknown. Last year, however, a fleet of 14 vehicles was reported as operating from India to Lhasa, but many years must elapse before this mysterious land becomes an important buyer of commercial vehicles.
Ceylon's Road Expenditure.
About £1,000,000 annually is spent on the roads in Ceylon, one-third of the total mileage of 15,911 being hard surfaced. The Colonial Government, local authorities, district committees and even private individuals• subscribe to the road fund. On September 30th last Ceylon pc4
sessed 2,976 lorries and 2,667 buses, it being claimed that American road ' motors represent 90 per cent, of the total, but actual figures record an aggregate of 4,579 American vehicles, or 81 per cent. During the period 1926-29 the 20 distributors in the colony yearly disposed of 779 North American commercial motors, but last year 166 came from that source.
British lorries in Ceylon total 619. Morris-Commercial leads with 211, followed by Albion; 121; Dennis, 63; Thornycroft, 42; Bean, 31; Trojan, 19; Robey, 17; Coramer, 13; Austin, 12; Sentinel, 11; and Guy, 9. There are 15 Morris-Commercial buses in operation. Continental road motors total 161, Fiat leading with 52. Then come I3erliet, 20; Renault, 17; Opel, 16; 13; Ben; 12; Citroen, 7; and Mercedes-Benz, 5.
It is somewhat anomalous that Ceylon, with the best roads in Asia, suffers from repression of road transport because the railways are Government owned. Moreover, from its size and topography the colony is a
natural road transport region. Restrictions have been placed upon the weight of motors in order that the railways might be made remunerative and the apprehension exists that other measures will be introduced further to impede motor development.
Light vehicles with bodies of local construction are perforce favoured, but long-wheelbase chassis are purchased where local regulations permit large bodies. The buses in use mostly accommodate 16 or 18 passengers, the bodies being roofed, but windowless.
Malaya has Fine Highways.
British Malaya has about 7,146 miles of roads, about two-thirds of this mileage being surfaced. During 1929 some £1,800,000 was allocated to the roads. Expenditure under this heading has been increasing rapidly during the past few years and British Malaya threatens to supersede Ceylon as the best-roaded country in Asia. It follows, too, that there has been an ever-increasing demand for motor vehicles, and registrations have increased from 1,072 in 1922 to 6,814 in 1930.
For the most part there is no communication by rail between the cen tral railway and the east and west coasts. The motor vehicle is, as a result of improved highways, making good this deficiency and is rapidly becoming recognized as the logical means for transport. To a minor extent bus travel is developing on similar lines, During the past five years British Malaya has been importing an armual average of 786 motors from North America. British . makers, however, are gradually improving their sales in this market. For instance, in 1929 Morris-Commercial Cars, Ltd., sent 92 lorries and buses there ; Albion, 33; Thornycroft, 29; Dennis, 29; and Leyland, 10.
British Makers Prosper.
Owing to the increasing demand of the building trade and the activities of contractors, sales have not been materially affected by unfavourable economic conditions. Light models have been most in demand, but British makers have been doing good business in the heavy field. Road motors enter British Malaya duty free.
No figures are available as to the total mileage of roads in the Dutch East Indies, but 36,175 miles are either of improved earth or macadamized. Over these roads, upon which some 12,000,000 is spent annually, 14,046 lorries and 7,342 buses were operating on January 1st, 1,931. Java possesses 4,929 lorries and 4,140 buses of the respective totals ; Bali and Lombok, 212 and 347; Borneo, 384 and 21; Celebes, 708 and 617; Sumatra, 7,213 and 2,175; and the outlying islands, 600 and 42.
America Losing Ground.
During the four years ended 1929 the Dutch East Indies took the sur prising average of 5,188 motors yearly from North America. Last year, however, the total from this source fell to 1,744 units, out of total of 3,015 imported. Hitherto 95 per cent, of the business done by the 113 distributors has been in American vehicles. The tariff on all motor vehicles entering the Dutch East Indies is 13.2 per cent.
For many years the Dutch colonizing policy was centred on Java, and that island, with its fine roads, may be said to be motorized, but greater expansion is certain to ensue. The development of Sumatra has been much more recent and, with few railways available for opening up the interior, .the motor vehicle has been called upon to meet the need for passenger and goods transport. During 1930 lorry sales suffered in the archipelago, but business with buses was extremely good. .
In the Dutch East Indies lorry chassis carrying locally built bodies are mainly used for conveying passengers. Bad roads, combined with the belief that it is more economical to discard a vehicle after a year's operation than to pay a high price for a more substantial type, has led to the wide use of light chassis.
The number of commercial motors in the British colonies and protectorates of British North Borneo, Labuan, Brunei, and Sarawak is probably not in excess of 50. As development proceeds, however, such vehicles will be required in the ports.
Siam has but 654 miles of roads, upon which about 1220,000 was expended in 1929. Some 3250 lor ries and buses run over this limited mileage, opeektion being restricted to the dry season, which lasts from November to June. About 300 motors were imported last year and of this number North America supplied 147.
Lorry operation is virtually confined to Bankok, but where condi
tions are practicable in the interior bus services are gradually being established. The comparative proximity of Singapore should induce British makers to keep an eye on this market, which, up to 1929, was 88 per cent. American. There are 10 distributors in Siam and the tariff is 10 per cent, ad valorem.
Remarkable progress in road-construction is reported from French Indo-China, where, of the 20,418 miles of roads in use, 8,900 are macadamized and 6,460 are of improved earth.
There are 1,459 lorries and 2,372 buses in French Indo-China, the American proportion being 21 per cent. Indeed, this is the only market in Asia where American vehicles do not predominate. The reason _Ls apparent ; the French tariff policy is in force in this colony, namely, 45 per cent, ad valorem.