The Exhibition Question : A Limited Choice or an Absolute Veto ?
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The Commercial Vehicle Committee of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has shortly to decide upon the official course in regard to other than motor exhibitions. The cause and interests of the commercial section are now most effectually safeguarded in the counsels of the Society, and we can only hope that the increased representation which followed the protest of October last will result in the adoption of a course that may prove acceptable and satisfactory to the majority. We foresaw at the date mentioned (the 24th October, 1907), that the terms of the then-existing bond were of too restrictive a nature for the continuance of an allround adherence from members of the industry who are concerned with the production and sale of both steam and petrol motors for the general purposes of agriculture, commerce, distribution, industry, manufacture, or shipping, and we have subsequently, on several occasions, given our reasons for the belief that a measure of liberty is expedient. We do not urge the view that it will never be wise to take steps to bring members of the commercial community exclusively to an annual motor show at Olympia or elsewhere, but we are well satisfied that the present is not the time for the attainment of such an ideal. Success and immediate business are, we feel confident, more readily to be found in other directions, and by other means.
It was agreed and admitted, unless by persons who chose to be blind to facts, that the attendance at the Olympia Show of April last was neither representative nor commensurate with the expense to which the Society and individual members of the trade had been put. The show in question was not, of course, an absolute failure, because both enquiries and sales were fairly distributed. The failure was a comparative one, in relation to what might have been achieved, and to what was confidently anticipated, but it remains in the hands of the manufacturers to determine whether they will voluntarily apply to themselves a set of cast-iron regulations which may suit the pleasure-car branch, and which rules certainly do not fit the needs of the heavy section. We feel that we are only taking the proper course when we remind our supporters that a very small proportion of representative traders, such as bakers, brewers, confectioners, drapers, grocers, Italian warehousemen, laundrymen, millers, municipal authorities, country store owners, and others too numerous for mention, attended at, or sent anybody to, the Olympia Show ; in fact, we doubt if more than the hundredth member of each trade was, either directly or indirectly, in attendance. Within the next fortnight, therefore, the Society will determine whether its most loyal members are to be limited to a show which does not yet pro. vide that touch with would-be buyers which it ought to provide, and which it may provide three or five years hence, or whether it will allow a measure of free choice in respect of certain non-motor exhibitions. We maintain that the average trader prefers to go to London at times when he is certain to meet his own friends, and to have all the material factors and incidental adjuncts to his line collected into one building for his convenient inspection. Later on, very probably, when a sufficiently-large number of owners may be counted in every representative trade of the country, the ideal of an annual reunion at a commercial motor show at Olympia will be the success which all wish it might be, but, until the total of such users is greatly augmented, we repeat our Opinion that an embryonic branch of the motor industry is being unnecessarily stifled. A discreet variation of the bond, so that it shall apply only to purely motor shows, and the granting of a dispensation to makers who desire to have a display at particular agricultural or trade shows, whether in London or the Provinces, is a policy which has sufficient merit to justify its adoption for a tentative period of one or two years, after which the whole position can be reviewed in the light of experience and results.
Agents and Winter Trade.
Not every agent or garage proprietor is able to guarantee full occupation for his staff and men during the winter months, and to such we recommend a more detailed consideration of the claims which the utility vehicle has upon their attentions. So far as initial demonstration, reasonable trial, and ability to follow up a sale are concerned, the commercial branch of the motor trade has much in common with the private-car side. Shopkeepers, both large and small, are on the alert in regard to the adoption of motorvan delivery, and the presence on the spot of a competent agent often brings such prospective buyers to the point of immediate decision. We are glad to know that representative manufacturers are still open to appoint good agents in areas where they are unrepresented, and we think the, time is fully ripe for applications to be sent in. The bona-fide middleman, who can give a quid pro quo for his appointment in the shape of an order for a demonstration vehicle, and who has at his disposal a moderate amount of storage space and repair plant, can rest assured that every commercial motor which he sells will provide him with a steady demand for stores, tires, and additional machines. Further, just as the country agent has been able tomaintain his position in the industry by reason of the fact that a large percentage of sales are effected as the direct result of his willingness to take an old motorcar in part exchange, so will the local agent prove his worth to the manufacturer in respect of business vehicles, and so will he be able to develop and handle trade in directions which must otherwise be impossible of successful approach, let alone consummation.