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-WHERE IS THE BRITISH -MOTORVAN?

21st September 1920
Page 28
Page 28, 21st September 1920 — -WHERE IS THE BRITISH -MOTORVAN?
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

An Opportunity for Manufacturers.

WHEN WILL a British motor manufacturer see the possibilities of the British market for light vans of the size of the Ford? There is an opening for an immense output of such vehicles for use in this country, and the trades and industries that could use them are prosperous and well able to afford up-to-date and improved means of transport.

Take, as an instance, the distributing trades ill Great Britain. In London, numbers of the more important stores and traders in various districts run light delivery vans, but the sale of the light van and lorry is here somewhat restricted, as so many Londoners purchase and carry home their own goods, but, in the provinces and the countryside, where distances between home and shops are invariably much , greater,. the delivery of goods is essential to ale eonduct of the trader's business, and if a light van enables two or three journeys to be made where one • journey was made before, the advantage in saving labour, or giving inoreased turnover and wider range of trading area, is obvious. There are 21,000 bakers, 70,000 .grocers, 37,000 drapers, 30,000 butchers, and 16,000 dairymen in Great Britain, a total of 174,000 _ firms engaged in distributing goods, and, due to the ;esult of war conditions, most of these firms are extremely prosperous, and can well afford to purchase a light delivery van.

Again, take the ease of fanners, many of whom conId ruh a small motor vehicle -to advantage for fetching supplies and for the delivery of eggs, garden produce, etc.' -to railheads, and neighbouring towns. There are 217,000 farmers in Great Britain, and

farmers are naore prosperous to-day than they have ever been during the whole history of the country. To many of these, the purchase of a motorvan or small lorry would be a comparatively small item.

All the men engaged in the, poultry fanning and market gardening industries may be regarded as potential buyers of small motor trucks, because the daily and rapid delivery of produce during a portion of the year is absolutely necessary.

Thus, we see that there is a total of approximately 400,000 possible buyers of light vans in the trades al-1;d industries above mentioned, .apart altogether from the many. other trades and industries which include prospective buyers of small vehicles. Surely, this offers a sufficient market to justify a large British firm standardizing and manufacturing a light van on , real mass production lines. The vehicle would need to be sold at a reasonable price, because, although the possible purchasers may be comparatively well to do, none of them is likely to pay more for an article than it is worth to him, and those motor manufacturers who hope to sell motervans .to this class of customer at 2600 up*ards will" be in for a rude shock.

• Given the output of the necessary type of vehicle in large quantities at the right Trice, what will be absolutely essential will be advertising and selling on entirely new lines. The scheme would need to be bold, intensive, and carried out with promptitude. Much purely educative work would have to be done at first.

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Locations: London

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