What November's Registration Returns Reveal
Page 39
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Significant Facts Brought to Light by the Latest Official Licensing Statistics
I N November last the numbers of new goods and hackney vehicles licensed showed a fall on the corresponding figures for. 1934, the goods-vehicle registrations at 5,321 comparing with 5,610 and the hackney-vehicle total at 311 contrasting with 455. The total number of new vehicles registered was 30,920, the reason for the advance on the total of 27,740 for November, 1934, being primarily due to the increased number of cars licensed.
There was a drop of over 260 in the registration of petrol goods vehicles, the total of 5,113 contrasting with 5,380 in the previous year. There were, with two exceptions, falls in all categories below 5-tonners. For example. in the 12-cwt.-1-ton class 769 vehicles were registered compared with 821; in the 1-11-ton division, 415 as against 493; in the 11-2-ton section, 962 contrasted with 1,242; and in the 21-3-ton class, 201 compared with 234.
Popular Types.
Except in the heavier classes, in which the aggregate of registrations was few, progress was marked in only the category for vehicles not exceeding 12 cwt., which rose from .966 to 1,106, and that for 2-2i-tonners, which advanced from 1,396 to 1,459.
The tendencies revealed by the figures for November have been apparent in the returns for some months past, and, with the exception of the lightest class of vehicle, there has not been any marked degree of stability in the registrations in different sections.
Once again, there was a decline in the number of new goods oilers, the 85 for November, 1935, having to be set against 138 for the corresponding month of 1934. The most popular
types, as indicated by the latest figures, are 3-4-tonners, 6-7-tonners and 4-5-tonners, in that order. An interesting feature of the statistics is that, in November last, only one machine in the class for vehicles not exceeding 21 tons was licensed, whereas a year ago this category headed the list for oiler. with 37 registrations. •
Included in the goods-vehicle figures were 15 vehicles licensed for drawing trailers, compared with 12 in November, 1934.
The progress of the electric vehicle, particularly in the lighter classes, appears to be unabated and, once again, a distinct• rise has to be recorded, there being 69 registrations in this section, compared with 27 a year earlier. The vehicle with an unladen weight not exceeding 12 cwt. still heads the poll and, in November last, was almost half the total.
Six-wheeler Tendencies.
The number of six-wheelers registered in November, 1935, was 114, as compared with 149 in the previous year, and the increasing popularity of the articulated type at the expense of the rigid pattern, which has been noted during recent months, still continues. The number of rigid sixwheelers licensed was 64, as against 104, whilst the total for articulated vehicles at 50 was 5 up on the previous year's figure.
A certain class of operator is still
being attracted by the potentialities of -the eight-wheeler and 22 such vehicles were licensed, the figure being 7 12 months earlier,
In the section for agricultural vans and lorries 47 machines—all petrolengined—were registered, compared with GO in the corresponding period of 1934.
Hackneys Fall Analysed.
The total of petrol-engined hackney registrations was cut in half, the 331 vehicles licensed in November, 1934, declining to 164 a year later. Furthermore, there was no rise in oil-engined hackneys (97 this year as against 110 in November, 1934) to offset this loss; which has been perceptible for some months past and has usually been counterbalanced by the added attention given to oilers. It is true that the loss in the section for petrol hackneys is primarily due to the appreciable drop in taxicab registrations, i.e., from 250 to 111.
There were only 48 petrol hackneys registered in the classes from 14seaters to 64-seaters. The lower total for hackney oilers was brought about by the complete absence of registrations in the 40-48-seater class, in which there were 30 a year earlier. The most healthy sign in this division is the 72 registrations of 48-58-seater double-deckers, although the continued progress of the trolleybus must not be overlooked, there being 50 such vehicles licensed in November, 1935, as contrasted with 14 in November, 1934.
The aggregate returns for the 11 months ended November last show that 61,844 goods vehicles and 6,493 hackney vehicles were registered, the corresponding totals for 1934 being 62,594 and 5,057 respectively.