COMMERCIAL MOTOR
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OUR COMMERCIAL MOTOR INDUSTRY.
A Simple Statement of the Position, Addressed Particularly to the Non-Technical Press.
IT MUST BE apparent to everyone that there was never a time in the history of this country when the influence of the Press upon the Government's policy wag greater than it is at present We are provided with one instance after another to prove the general rule; subject .to very few exceptions, that the Government does not move until the Press compels it to do so.
Consequently, when one is deeply concerned with the treatment of a case which is not generally Widerstood, it appears that the first and, possibly, the only thing to do• is to Make sure that that case is made familiar in all its bearings to those who, being concerned with the ventilation of many other grave matters, may not have had time for a complete study of what, without such study, may be wrongly regarded as. a subject of minor importaNce.
Among the, essential industries of this country is that responsible for the manufacture of commercial motor vehicles. This is a key industry in the sense that the prosperity of many other industries depends in no small measure upon the use of its products. It is an industry the existence of which is a necessary condition of military strength. Ludendorff Las admitted the severe handicap under which the German armies laboured owing to their inadequate supply of motor lorries. To these he attached so much importance that he would not for a moment consider any reduction of output, even for the urgent purpose of creating a fleet of Tanks.
We have only to recall the preliminaries of the first battle of the Marne, the retreat from Antw.erp, the defence of Verdun, to realize how motorcars, motor omnibuses, and motor lorries have alike proved their worth in the great war. .
As a nation, we are beginning to realize the importance of mechanical transport at home, and the great share that our roads must bear in bringing about the needed improvements in our means of communication. On the other side of the case, Londoners and the, inhabitants of many other great towns have learnt through a, temporary shortage of transport facilities what an important factor the motor vehicle is in providing for our comfort and convenience.
The industry-on which we are dependent for the production of motor vans, lorries, ambulances, fire engines, municipal vehicles and so on, before the war, flourished very vigorously in this country. Not so .many years back, a large party of American engineers visited Great Britain for the purpose of studying this . industry and openly admitted that they came to learn and were not in a position to teach. Neither in quality nor in price could the pre-war British cornmercial vehicle be bettered by the corresponding product of. any other country.
Up to 1914 Creating Goodwill.
In 1914 the industry was still a young one. 'Up to that time, a great part of its energies had gone to the creation of goodwill. The building up of this goodwill was a slow and costly process. New disciples had to be gained one by one, and, before they were converted, they had to get rid of deeP400ted prejudice in favour of older forms of transport. In general, experience has shown that when a trader was in a position to employ, say, 20 motor vehicles, the real work of the manufacturer or his agent had to be done before the first of these vehicles was put into service. Once that stage was passed the commissioning of the other nineteen followed as a matter of course after a reasonable interval.
The profit on the first order may have been small irs itself, but the manufacturer realized that the other orders would be more cheaply obtained and would almost certainly go to the manufacturer who had first penetrated that particular field. Given . two makes of vehicle of equal merit and assuming that a trader already possesses a sample of number one, the chance that number two has of -obtaining his subsequent orders is small. The main reason for this is that, if a fleet consists of only one Make of vehicle, feweo spore parts need be kept and the whole work of maintenance is simplified and to some extent cheapened: Let us now see how the point just emphasized bears upon the present situation: At the outbreak of war • large numbers of British-built vehicles of a great variety of types were commandeered for active service. Almost immediately, all the _British factories were concentrated solely upon war work. Manufacturers were not allowed to sell to civilian clients new • vehicles to take the place of those that had-been commandeered. At the same time, the export of vehicles from this country was forbidden, just at a time when many foreign countries had begun to realize, as a consequence of their experience with British vehicles, the immense value of motor transport Aenta and. buyers in these countries, finding that they could not • possibly get supplies from Great Britain, turned elsewhere. Buyers at home found that they had, to depend upon imported vehicles. Agents, unable to get fresh stocks of British machines and faced with the necessity of making a livelihood somehow, took up foreign machines and pressed them to the best of their ability.
Thus, throughout the whole world, there was started a process of transfer of goodwill from the British industry into foreign hands. We have shown above how and why this goodwill is so' vitally important in this particular industry, not only as regards the immediate order but as regards also every future order.
Displaced by Foreign Vehicles.
As time went on, the number of vehicles still remaining in civilian service began to need attention which the manufacturers were prohibited from giving them. Consequently, they dropped into temporary disuse and new imported vehicles took their place. The transfer of goodwill continued. For a period it was even encouraged, becauie it was realized that there was a shortage of transport facilities at home and that the distribution of food and other essentials was suffering accordingly. Because of this, it happened that, when a duty was put on imported motorcars, imported commercial vehicles were for the time being exempted.
Later, we reached a period at which petrol supplies were so short, the maintenance of the rate of exchange so important, and the demands upon shipping space so urgent that the import of foreign motor vehicles of all kinds was prohibited altogether. It was only a matter of chance that this prohibition of commercial vehicles came in one stage. It might just as easily have come, as in the case of the private car, in two stages—first the limited. duty and then an infinite duty, which means the same thing as prohibition. The chance occurrence that the Government in this case did not take two bites at a cherry has had far-reaching consequences.
At the termination of the war the Government was compelled to redeem. its pledge to adopt the principle of Imperial Preference. The circumstances were so difficult from the political standpoint that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had to face a very awkward problem. Had he introduced new duties there would have been an outcry among free traders. Had he reframed from introducing Imperial Preference there Would have been an outCry among other groups of the supporters -of the Party. In these circumstances he took what was regarded by the Government as being the safe course. Certain duties were in existence, and to these he applied the principle of Imperial Preference, but he created no new duties.
In this way, the duty on imported private cars (33/ per cent.) figured as part of the first Imperial Preference scheme, even though at that time the duty was hardly operative, because import. was further checked by prohibition except under licence.
It was generally supposed that, before the prohibition ceased, the more permanent policy of the country in respect of , imports generally would have' been determined. However, for political reasons this did not happen. Thus, it comes 'about that we now have the prohibition removed and foreign commercial vehicles can be imported free and in unrestricted quantities, while foreign motorcars are still subject to the payment of the duty.
Thus; what cannot be regarded as other than an accidental sequence of events in the first instance has led to a very material differentiation between the treatment accorded to the products of two branches of the same.industry. Moreover, the branch which B24 receives the iess'generous treatment is, in many ways, the one that is less*well circumstanced to hold its own for the moment without some sort of help.
For one thing, as already explained, the forced transfer of goodwill into foreign hands is very difficult to rectify. The average man who discards or sells his motorcar in order to purchase a new one will make his choice of the new machine solely on his personal preferences and its supposed merits, with due regard to price. The trader, on the other hand, when increasing his fleet, has a strong bias in favour of the make of machine already in his possession, even though it cannot show any superiority in respect either of price or of quality. This being so, it follows that, if we are to give back to the British industry the goodwill which we, as an Empire, have unintentionally but none the less definitely taken from it, we must adopt some course which will in effect force traders within our own boundaries to buy at least for a time from British sources.
A Substantial Duty will Permit Fair Competition.
Once they have done so, and have in their possession both British and foreign vehicles, we can safely leave them to make their further purchases solely on the basis of value for money. In other words, we should then have the elements Of fair competition which at present we have not got, since the balance is weighted in favour of the foreigner.
With this big handicap up against him, the British manufacturer still has other causes for anxiety. In particular, the British Government possesses. large numbers of his vehicles of the types which, owing to the character of his recent work, he can manufacture with the greatest economy and expedition. In face of this competition of the surplus Government vehicle and the prospective flooding of the Markets, So far as concerns vehicles of certain specific capacities, the manufacturer is obliged to modify his output very materially. The change entails temporary disloeation and a delay in deliveries, particularly since it occurs at a time during which the condition of labour is very unsettled.
Thus, despite its best endeavours, the British industry is not yet completely reorganized with due regard to the nature and extent of the post-war demand. The removal otnthe restriction on imports comes too soon. Had it been accompanied by the imposition of a substantial duty, the position might still have been tolerable, though still not really satisfactory. As it is, it is neither tolerable nor equitable. In fact, the course taken' by the Government could hardly have been more damaging had it been deliberately. decided that the continued existence of a British commercial motor industry was unnecessary and even undeairable.
In this brief article, we have sought to set -forth the facts dispassionately. We have aimed at explaining.the position,-and we feel that if the Press, as a whole, is familiarized with the position in its most important'bearings, the qualified journalist will have no difficulty in proposing an effective remedy. Whilst expressing ourselves as we do, on behalf of the British industry, we. cannot too plainly emphasize and repeat ,that we fully recognize that it'is..up to our. manufacturers (and we are insistent in telling them so) to do all they possibly can,,in the Way of producing an article which shall continuesto be even more than value for money, and not to be above learning lessons wherever they may be learned, even and in particular from those foreign rivals whose energy and enterprise will continue to receive from us Admiration and fair play