POLAND'S NEED OF ROAD MOTOR VEHICLES.
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A Promising Market which is Deserving of Consideration by Prominent British Manufacturers. Possibilities for the Lorry, Motorbus, and Tractor.
MHE INVITATION extended a few months age to Commander Hilton Young to act as financial adviser to the Polish Government is not without interest and importance to British motor manufacturers, for with the organization of the money, market there is CO more promising market in •Europe for motor vehicles of all types than this Republic. During the past few Months numerous inquiries have emanated from Warsaw and other important towns in which agencies for all kinds of power-driven Vehicles have been sought. From June to August of last year tie fewer than 40 agencies were sought, through official Sources, far the products of Amerioan manufacturers, not to mention a number of application Made to Manufacturers in this country with the same object. in
view. Tbat -greater atteritioa is being paid 'in the Republic to the extended use -of 'Motors cannot be Ova-tied when it is announced that Poland is to have its first motor show this summer, from June 5th to 12th.
The first great4fillip was givan acamethanical road; transport,. in Poland in 1921 as a result of peace being-k: established with Russia., which enabled the 'military authorities to stop requisitioning, and to begin to dispose of surplus Vehicles, This re'Milted in imporas of passenger cars being prohibited for a time, but it did nob affect lorries, the Polish Government itself becoming a buyer of considerable numbers of commercial vehicles. Within the IAA few months' an Italian company is stated to have received an order for SOO lorries on a three-year credit basis, whilst a large order is also said to have been received by in American manufacturer.
Poland has an area of '386,27.3 square kilems. and a population of more than 27,000,000. It is obvious, therefore, that there is considerable scope in that country for. the developmentof the commercial. motor vehicle.
Competition in Poland is more or less open. Trade, so far as British manufacturers are concerned, is difficult, and countries with a low exchange can claim a big advantage: Constant fluctuation in the rate of exchange tends tte curtail trade with distant countries. A definite calculation of the cost of goods cannot be made over a period of months, as the Polish mark often rapidly fluctuates in value to a very considerable extent. To overcome this difficulty the establishment of consignment warehouses has been suggested so that customers might be in a position to buy on the spot. The drawback to the adoption of this scheme is. that the political future of Danzig, the only port of the country,: is still undetermined.
It is important that reliable and efficient representatives shoald be appointed in Poland. In a recent report
eport of
of the British Commercial Secretary at Warsaw, it was stated that a number of firms has sustainad severe • losses because they have been unsatisfaoterity represented in the country. •
The number of motor vehicles in Poland has been variously.eleclared' to :range between 6,000 and 13,000: The larger total is certainly nearer the mark. The four principal :.ources of supply are America, Austria, France and Germany.•America's share, according to the
French Commercial Attaché in Poland, i roughly 30 per cent. of
the total imports. Since Poland became a separate entity the following vehicles have been .imported from the United States :—
Germany furnished from 15 per
cent. to 20 per cent. of the total of vehicles imported over the period covered by this table. Austria also exports to Poland Aleut file same proportion of vehicles, although in the. main, these cars are of lighter power. France -.furnishes about 15 per cent, of the taal imports, followed by Czecho--Ssovakia, Belgium and Italy. By reason -of the excellent service arrangements made by manufacturers in the. United States, American makes of commercial vehicle enjoy great popularity, but French. and Italian machines have also found many buyers. The average German vehicle is considered too heavy for use in most areas in Poland, whilst its petrol consumption is high.
No factory that is devoted entirely to the manufacture of motor vehicles exists in the country. It was reported in 1921 that an American firm of 'motor manufacturers were establishing a branch at Thorn, whilst it was also
stated in the following year that a large factory, in which several thousands of bands were to be employed and French capital was said to be interested; was to be constructed at Warsaw, but tease 13chemes do not appear to have fructified. At Cracow a factory exists for assembling chassis and for maim-featuring bodies, and at Posen a concern known as "Premiere Fahrique Polonais
Automobiles" are established, and they are chiefly concerned with assembling components, principally manufactured in Austria and Germany, for light :vehicles.
It is possible that in a few years an attempt will be made to manufacture outright in Poland, for the acquisition af Upper Silesia, has made the country an important one industrially. No Works exist that are specially devoted to the manufacture of motor vehicle parts, but an attempt is being made to Ancourage the bodybuilding industry by Imposing a very heavy surtax on bodies which are imported into the country.
Poland had close on 16,000 kiloms of railways in operation a short time ago. The railway problem of the country is one of very great magnitude, the boundaries having been framed frOm political -viewpoint and without any regard being paid to existing railway cornMunications. During 1921 the national railways showed a deficit of over 15,000,000,000 Polish marks, a.nd a year later this deficit was practically doubled.
In the year 1921 120,000,000 passer gers and 27,000,000 tons of freight are Stated to have been carried on the rail'ways, but these figures by no means reresent the number of passengers or .he quantity of freight that might have been transported, in so far as the railways were inadequately equipped to do the work demanded of them. Moreover, matters have not been improved for transporting passengers and freight.
The Government, realizing the futility of endeavouring to find capital to enable railways to be constructed, is devoting most of its attention towards the improving of road communications.
Poland has a network of good motor roads totalling about 15,000 kiloirts, and great efforts are made to keep these highways in good repair. The majority Of the roads in the country, however, 4re at present totally unfit for anything iut horsed vehicles, and lorries which attempt to operate over these roads are i ,aetmstantly n need of being overhauled. They also consume a quantity of petrol which it out of all proportion to the mileage covered. However' it mast, be the policy of the Or overnment during the present period Of financial stress to do its utmost, to put the roads of the country in a suitable condition for use by motor vehicles. It will be helped in this aim by the fact that good road material is found in Many parts of the country, whilst. 12 factories produce cement in such quantities that ranch of it has to be exported.
Despite the bad condition of most of the roads, lorries of all capacities are isquired throughout the country, although, except in the very restricted areas where excellent roads abound, the one-ton vehicle is likely to prove the Most reliable and efficient for general transport work. Several private con tractors are running lorry services in Lemberg, Vilna and Danzig, as well as In Warsaw, whilst in some of the more important towns the municipal authorities are taking to mechanical streetB29 cleaning vehicles, which when the conditions are considered, is certainly very enterprising of them.
Numerous opportunities exist in Poland for establishing motorbus services, not only as feeders to the railways, but in competition with them. Many important towns do not. possess electric, tramway systems. Amongst these might he mentioned Vilna (240,000 inhabitants), Caeshoclowa (150,000), and Lublin (150,000). A study of the map, showing many of the important towns, which we reproduce, will suggest many directions in which bus routes could be established. Vletalavsk and Lipno, PIotsk and Serpets, Kutno and Lodz, Konin and Kalish, Lomzha and Augustof, Petrokof and Lodz, Chenstokhof and Syeradz, Pinchof and Kyeltsi' m
Zaoste and sh sh
Grubeof, Przemysl and Rzeszof, and Tarnapol and Buczacz are only a few of the towns that need to be linked up by passenger road transport vehicles.
The tractor market in Poland has been affected in the past by expropriation, but landowners have now settled down and better opportunities exist for sales. A census of tractors taken early
In 1922 showed that 1,300 machines of this class were in use, of which 1,204 had been imported. Ten different American makers supplied 1,055 machines between them, practically all of which had been imported since 1918. Austria sent 45 tractors, of which 25 were assembled locally. Germany exported 37 machines, Finland 30, and Czecho-Slovakia, Italy, and England most of the remainder between them. All except 10 of the tractors in use in the country at the period mentioned are of the wheel type, those of 10 h.p. to 20 lap. being the most popular.
The Poles nurse the .belief that one day their country will be self-supporting so far as the tractor is concerned. Indeed, some of the marlines now manufactured locally are being exported to Russia.
That there is still considerable opportunity for British manufacturers in this direction, however, will be understood when it is said that there are nearly 3,000,800 estates in Poland, totalling about 32,000,000 hectares in area. Twothirds of those estates are less than 5 hectares in extent, whilst the great majority of the remainder have an area of Jess than 20 hectares.
The import duties on motor vehicles
and parts are heavy. Passenger cats pay a duty of 120 gold marks per 100 Idles; lorries and buses, 60 gold marks per 100 kilos; taxicabs, 90 gold marks per 100 kilos ; and motorcycles, 70 gold marks per machine. On imported parts from 40 to 100 gold marks per 100kilos have to be paid, according to their. nature. In addition to the above taxes, a luxury tax of 10 per cent, is levied.
The oil wells of Poland are said to be giving indications of exhaustion. To counter this factor an attempt has been made to keep the product of these wells in the country, a duty of 115 marks per kilo being imposed on all petroleum exported. in the year 1922 19,750 nietrir tons of petrol and 100.860 of kerosene were consumed in Poland. Locally produced petrol is of poor quality, and costs about la ad. per gallon.
There is a growing tendency to resort to the use of petrol substitutes, and, should matters take this course, the production of power alcohol would not be faced by many difficulties. Over 1,400 distilleries, that are capable of producing between them 30,000,000 gallons of power alcohol from potatoes grown in the country, are in existence, so that this branch of potential fuel production is in a remarkably healthy condition.
The illustrations which accompany this article' were all taken on the oocasion of the recent trials held by the military authorities in Poland, but the vehicles which are shown in the pictures are mostly representative of those types of lorry which are to be found perf cu-suing, the transport tasks of ordinary lasers. Although the military aspect in the illustrations may be somewhat pronouneed, they certainly afford a very good idea of the difficulties which face road-transport vehicles operating in the country.