THE CALL FOR A BRITISH LIGHT VAN.
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A Suggested Opening for Vehicle Manufacturers.
SPECIALIZATION and concentration were the lessons which were brought home with the greatest emphasis to those responsible Tor industrial management during the war, and although those maxim's are of almost equal importance in these days, when. the demands of the world's markets have to -be met, it will probably be agreed that the experiences of the last few months have made some qualifications necessary.
Manufacturing conditions in the days to come will be eVen moredependent upon the reduction of working costs than they have been in the -past, and, for this reason, it will be necessary for manufacturers to specialize, rather than to produce a variety of goods. During the war, output could not be maintained at a high standard when constant changes were being made, and under peace conditions working costs cannot be reduced unless works management is efficient. A new factor enters now, however, and to-day, in the management of a factory,.the,influence of the sales department must be exerted' more than ever. Beyond the application of the lessons of specialization to reduce selling costs, there must be applied the experience of the last feW months, that it is useless, even to consider production costs if the markets are glutted, for prices are then fixed by any
thing but the cost of production. This suggests, however, that, in the future, there will be the necessity for the sales department to suggest an outlet for the activities of the factory, rather than that the factory shall continue to produce goods as quickly and as ecortomicallyi as, possible, but which cannot be sold.
A consideration of these principles' in connection with the motor vehicle industry and, more particularly, in connection with the manufacture of commercial vehicles, will suggest that there' should be a review of the conditions oftrade duringthe period which has elapsed since the market was reopened for the supplyftof goods to the commercial user. The war left us with a. magnificent advertisement for the utilization of motor vehicles as a means of transport. In consequence of war requirements the makers of commercial vehicles had coneentrated upon heavy vehicles. The war had demonstrated the uses of vehicles for heavy transport and, for a time, makers were engaged in-supplying the needs of industry and everyone was troubled, not with selling. vehicles, but with solving production problems in order that the supply might be made to meet the demand.
The Growth of the. Demand for the Small Vehicle.
While the makers of commercial vehicles in this country have been straining every nerve to meet the principal demand for their products there has been going on quietly a steady and yet not inconsiderable trade in meeting the wants of a. class of customer for whom the heavy lorry was of little or no ,use, but who, nevertheless, had felt the need for more up-todate and convenient modes of transport. Neglected by the British manufacturer, this class of customer found theimporter of vehicles was prepared to meet his demand and, thus, there has been rut into use in this country a, large number of light transport vehicles of foreign manufacture.
A careful study of the requirements of the user of light motor vehicles for transport in this country shows that the market has been almost totally captured by the foreigner, and yet it cannot be said that, if the British manufacturer set out with determination to meet the demands of this section of the market, he could not provide for the wants of a con
siderable section of it. Probably he could oust the fereigner until, in a very short time, conditions would be similar to those 'which exist in regard to heavy vehicles, where, in spite of advantages given in the civilian market to American vehicles during one period of the war, scarcely any new vehicles from a-broad are being sold. With a temporarily over-crowded market for heavy vehicles, makers might, with very great benefits to themselves, consider the demands of the user of less powerful machines.
A consideration of the special needs of the user of this type of vehicle might he made with advantage, and it will then be found that the experience of heavy vehicle manufacturers will be of much more value than that of the maker of touring cars, whose -vehicle mighteat-first sight, appear to be more closely allied to the light.transport vehicle. The adaptation of touring cars for the transport of goods has only been moderately successiul, and the difficulties will generally be found to be due to the necessity for dealiag with varying loads. The demands in regard to load made upon a touring car are by no means so varied as those made upon goods-carrying vehicles, but in the ease of alight vehicle the variation in the load upon chassis, springs, and engine is similar to that of a heavy vehicle. At all events the proportions 'are more nearly the same.
Concentration Upon a Single Type of Vehicle.
The particular type of customer it will be necessary to eater for' needs special attention, and while it will be found that the duties to which these light vehicles can be put are almost innumerable, it will be found that the requirements, in the main, are to be met by vehicles which vary but littlein design of mechanical parts, and even in regard to body for one trade against another. In light vehicl4s, small articles in a -comparatively large number are usually carried and adequate protection against weather and loss will generally be required, so that an open type Of body will not often be necessary. For the manufacturer who intends to meet the requirements of this particular 'section of the transport world, if standardized production is to be eonsidered, particular attention might very well be paid to the -production of a van capable of giving varied service in a number of trades. How many trades and industries could be usefully provided with such a vehicle it would be impossible to enumerate here, hut the farmer, the commercial traveller and the small tradesman, to give only three, represent an important section of the community, numerous enough to be worthy of special attention, whose work, could he more efficiently carried outby a vehicle of the type suggested.
The sale of a light vehicle of the van type would present problems somewhat different from thesale
of. a higher capacity vehicle. In the first place, it could not be expected that such vehicles, -except in rare instances, could be sold in big fleets. In most eases, the users would be men in a comparatively small wa-y of business, and often they would need convincing that a mechanically propelled vehiele could satisfactorily supersede a horse ; but, in thesedays of expensive labonr, the demonstration of the advantages of a rapid transport vehicle would not be a difficult matter, and to the manufacturer seeking new fields to conquer there are possibilities of trade in this direction on lines which are not so directly competitive as in the heavy vehicle market. At all events, 'there is room for one or more manufaeturers to specialize on this branch of the industry an to provide the, home trade with a home-produced vehicle suitable for British conditions and users.