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POLITICAL BLOWS at the FRENCH TRADE T HE present state of
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affairs across the Channel offers an object lesson as to the man tier in which al important and rapidly expanding inZustry may be wrecked, in the course of a few months, by political obstinacy. Those who follow the trend of commercial-vehicIe development on the Continent may have been rather surprised of late to find that the great forward movement, which started in France some two to three years ago, does not appear to be continuing.
Until recent times, the commercialvehicle industry did not keep pace with the progress in private car manufacture, but during 1931 and 1932 French concerns made up much leeway in the matter of design. At the same time, the oil-engine boom started, passenger traffic began to develop, and it seemed that, at last, the French commercial-motor industry was about to become worthy of what is, in numbers, the greatest motor-producing country in Europe.
Late Introduction of Road Services.
Curious although it may seem, regular public transport by road, on a large scale, was virtually unknown in France until less than 21 years ago. Many small concerns, however, existed in the provinces. Important seasonal coach services were operated by the great railway companies, -but these were more in the nature of tourist excursions than a regular means for transport from town to town. Fairly important radial bus services existed, however, in the suburbs of certain big provincial cities.
In 1932 M. Andre Citron inaugurated a number of coach services radiating from Paris to points 40-60 miles distant. The instantaneous popularity of this scheme surprised even its organizer, and the production of coaches was immediately speeded up. Within 12 months, the original 10 services had grown to nearly 100, and since that date the scheme has been extended all over the country.
The Renault company followed later with similar services operating in direct competition with those of the Citroen concern.
Concurrently with this passengertraffic development, the French industry, as a whole, showed great activity • c42 during 1932 and 1933, in spite of the economic crisis, already beginning to be felt severely in France. In particular, great strides were made in the longdistance transport of goods by road.
These routes were covered by. welldesigned, heavy-duty vehicles, mostly oil-engined, which were able to complete their 600-800-kilom. runs at remarkably' high average speeds. Some of these services carried heavy tonnage and were run with clock-like regularity, but they no longer exist—on paper. . The light delivery :veliiCle showed an equally rapid development.
. During the autumn of 1933 vast changes in French motoring legislation were foreshadowed in the Chamber of Deputies, and the present year has seen some of these alterations carried into effect. The first great change be came operative in February last, when the horse-power tax on all motor vehicles was replaced by an extra tax on all liquid fuels for internalcombustion engines.
Special attention was paid to oil fuels, upcn which was imposed a supertax. This tended to stem the rising tide of business in compression-ignition engines, but, on the whole, the change did not cause much harm to the commercial-vehicle industry. Petrol now cost-s about 3s. (Id. per gallon in France, but this is due entirely to monetary exchange values.
Light-van business may have suffered a little, but, on the other hand, the 'heavy brigade" carried on much as before. The French horse-power tax, based on total, cylinder capacity and other factors, bore severely upon large engines. Relief from this burden balanced, to some extent, the extra .cost of fuel, except, perhaps, in the case, of oilers, where.. the ratio of
economy was . much reduced. .
In April last, .however, the French industry received a heavy blow, when
• the terma of the -Rail and Road Co-ordination Bill, drawn up by the National Economic Council, were made public. Under this remarkahle 'example of modern legislation, any further expansion of road transport is, -virtually, forbidden.
• No more public passenger or goods
services may be put into operation, where the railways can show that they are able to carry the same passengers or goods, whilst existing transport enterprises are not allowed to increase their fleets. Powers vested in departmental prefects under the new Bill are arbitrary and despotic.
The proprietor of a goods or passenger-transport undertaking whose services are considered to "compete " with some local railway line may suddenly find himself ordered to work at the other end of the department. For instance, a suburban bus company operating at Boulogne could be instructed to transfer its activities to Arras or Bapaume, 50 miles away.
The long-distance road transport of goods goes by the board, to all intents and purposes, as it is obvious that the railways can carry them. Moreover, one clause of the Bill sets 150 kiloins, as the maximum distance for the transport of goods by road!
Although the terms of the Bill clescrioe it as a rational and liberal arrangement' between rail and road interests, it may be regarded rather as panic legislation intended to stop the rapidly increasing annual deficit on railway operation, which, in France, has to be made good out of State funds. This deficit amounted, daring 1933, to no less than 4,000,000,000 francs.
When the " co-ordination " scheme was drawn up by the National Economic Council, a small advisory committee was set up to work it out in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Works; Five members were appointed, one representing the main railway lines, one for the local railways, one for road-transport. undertakings having contracts with the State, the departments or communes, and two representing concerns without State or departmental contracts. Of the two last-mentioned members, one was selected to represent passenger and the other goods transport.
No member was chosen to represent the public interest, as the duty of the public is simply to pay for transport, in any form. Now, it is a well-known fact that one Frenchman can seldom see eye to eye with any other Frenchman on the simplest matter, and here was a group of five men representing violently conflicting interests, ordered to examine and report upon a complicated and largely unworkable Bill affecting, to a profound degree, the welfare of the French people.
When the time came to report to the Ministry the result of the committee's labours, no decision had been
arrived at ton any clause. Is it surprising, in these circumstances, that commercial-motor makers and users all over France became discouraged?
Not content with creating chaos in the industrial-vehicle world, however, French politicians produced, on June 30 last, yet more repressive legislation. This time only the "heavy brigade" was affected, as the decree deals with the weights and dimensions of such machines. The main provisions are that the overall width of a road vehicle shall not exceed 2 m. 35 cm. and the overall length 10 m. The overall length of a tractor-trailer unit shall not exceed 12 m. The total weight of any laden vehicle shall not exceed 15 tons, and the load on any axle 10 tons. The average weight per metre of length of any vehicle shall not exceed 4 tons in the case of vehicles with two axles.
The most objectionable feature of this decree was the manner in which it was launched without warning upon the heavy-vehicle industry. Its terms immediately became operative upon all new chassis.
On the whole, however, the heavy.. vehicle industry adapted itself with commendable rapidity to the new conditions.
An example of a chassis conforming exactly with the regulations is the Somua 10-tonner for passenger service, illustrated herewith. In showing this vehicle to our Paris representative, M. Andre Ruhl, sales manager of the Somua company, humorously pointed out that it was well within Government regulations, having 4 mm. to spare on overall width, in the case of soft „tyres, which might spread, and a small amount on the length to allow for expansion in hot weather!
Here To-day and Gone To.morrow.
Even the private purchaser of a van or lorry scarcely knows how far he may transport goods with it, whilst the bus or coach proprietor may literally be here to-day and gone to-morrow.
French road-transport interests do not appear to be well organized in their own defence, for, although countless groups and societies exist, there is none with a real striking force. This lack of unity is, unfortunately, characteristic of French life in all its phases, and finds its fullest expression in Parliament, where some 14 different parties are represented.
• Great credit must be given to our French contemporary, Poids Lourd, for its vigorous fight against the ineffable Co-ordination Act. There seems to be no doubt that the entire Bill will have to be redrafted. With regard to the French railway position, this is due far less to road competition, which began to make' itself felt only recently than to faulty administration.
Railway fares and freight rates are not high enough to ensure a working profit, and the matter is aggravated, to a certain extent, by the incredible number of non-fare-paying passengers regularly carried.
In spite of present difficulties, all of them originated by the politicians, the French commercial-vehicle industry is managing to carry on, and will, of course, emerge triumphant in the end. The present setback may have given the industry an appearance of stagnation, but technical progress continues steadily and many fine types of vehicle are now on the market.
Technical progress was, however, fully dealt with in our recent report of the Paris Show. One feature of design is the employment of higher compression ratios to suit the present secondgrade fuels, which contain a large proportion of alcohol.