The Used-vehicle Problem
Page 55
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M RADE depression has not checked
the growth of Carmo (1929), Ltd., 390, Euston Road, London, N.W.1, for during a recent conversation with Mr. D. C. 11. Wells, the managing director, we learned that his business has prospered and its scope increased by no mean extent during the past few years. An idea of this progress can be formed from some figures recently announced at the concern's annual dinner. For the year ended March, 1931, 432 commercial vehicles were sold, whilst in the following 12 months the figure was 808. At the present time an average per week of approximately 20 new and secondhand lorries and vans—mostly in the lighter classes—are passing through the company's hands.
Carmo, Ltd., is one of the leading Redford agents in the country, and, consequently, machines of this make are
largely handled. In the Euston Road showrooms, and at the large main repair depot in Camden Town, which we also inspected, we would estimate that there were as many as 140 second-hand commercial vehicles of numerous makes ranging from 5-cwt. and 10-cwt. vans to 5-ton six-wheelers. More than half of these were ready for use, having been reconditioned and repainted in the workshops. Others were stripped and in course of overhaul.
In addition to the Camden Town shops, Carina, Ltd., has two auxiliary depots elsewhere in London, but, even so, the accommodation is limited, despite the fact that additional premises, adjoining the main repair depot, were only recently opened. This depot consists of the usual shops, stores, offices, etc., and the staff here alone numbers about 30 men What is, perhaps, the biggest difficulty in selling new vehicles—the disposal of second-hand machines that have been taken in part payment— appears to have been really seriously tackled by Carmo Ltd, and is, perhaps, largely responsible for the company's success. We understand that, roughly, 75 per cent, of its energies is devoted to the second-hand market. In Mr. Wells's office hang two maps studded with flags—one showing the source of inquiries received and the other the sales effected. They provide an excellent means for noting how business is proceeding. We confess to experiencing some surprise at the wide scope of this business, as was clearly shown by the number of flags—on the sales-effected map—in such distant parts of the British Isles, as Cornwall, Wales and Scotland.