COMMERCIAL VEHICLES FOR NEW ZEALAND.
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From Our Australian Correspondent.
THE VISITOR TO South Africa realizes a vast continent or rather sub-continent with three ports of outstanding merit and a big inland centre—Johannesburg—which makesit comparatively easy for him to handle his business. Proceeding to Australia he finds a continent with one town and. one harbour to each State, except in Queensland, but when he arrives in New Zealand he finds nearly ten towns, each with its own harbour and each a distributing centre for the surrounding country. Furthermore, no one town is so much larger than another as to make it obviously the distributing centre for the whole dominion, or even for either island. For instance, who would care to determine off-hand between the rival claims of Auckland and Wellington in the North Island or Christchurch and Dunedin in the South.
Probably the complaint that many British manufacturers make that they have not had a fair share of the trade in their particular wares in New Zealand is due to this very distinction, more especially as the said manufacturers usually pride themselves on their complete lack of knowledge of the geography, physical conditions, products, etc., of the countries with which they seek to do business.
The observant visitor to New Zealand realizes that decentralization is a real thing in the country, and that the producer in, say, the Hawkes Bay district, has no more idea of railing his produce 180 miles to Wellington for shipment, while he can send it to Napier, or in lighters, to deep sea ships in the nearest bay, than he would make a. special trip to London to buy his next suit of clothes. When that fact has been once fully assimilated (and a visit to any shipping company regularly trading to the:Dominion will confirm it) the map of New Zealand becomes an exceedingly interesting study; That will disalose that the towns are mostly on the east coast, and are connected by one coastal railway in the South Island -and in the North, Wellington is connected by direct lines respectively with Auckland and the north and Napier, stfew lines extending inland from southern ports complete the story. In its physical aspect, too, one finds the country to be mountainous north and south, along the centre, shelving to the coast in all directions. The railway time table also informs us that no trains whatever,, even on suburban lines, are rim on Sundays. The. visitor quickly realizes that whilst the resident of Bendiga will always do his principal buying in Melbourne, the resident of Invercargill would do his there and not in Dunedin. Once accept these facts and two things become clear. The Dominion of New Zealand is an enormous field relatively for both motorcars and wagons, and it is necessary to provide the best service at the best prices in ail the principal centres. I can already hear _questions-about roads cropping up, and here, again, one can answer confidently that New Zealand realizes the road problem, and is endeavouring toisolve it. As an instance of what is being done, duringia recent visit I found that work was proceeding in making a. concrete strip for motor traffic only on the main artery out from Wellington : to wit the Hutt Road. This road is 25 miles in length, and fey the time -being a motor track of waterproofed concrete is being laid for seven miles at an estimated cost of 230,000. As it is intended for motors only, motors using, or liable to use it, must . pay for it, and the following schedule has been -ac cepted. Steel-shod lorries, 25 p.a. ; rubber-shod, £3; motor vans, £2; motorcars, 30s. ; motorcycjes, 10s. For the rest, it is some ten years since New a28 Zealand first began to take a modern and intelligent interest in roads, and slowly but surely the results are becoming observable. With the improvement that is taking place so does road transport—private, passenger and goods—steadily increase, as it is not only available seven days a week but goes away from and beyond the railways as well.
It is obvious that there is far more that might be written than can be compressed within the compass of one article. Suffice it to say that with proper organization and demonstration of the value of the commercial motor, there is room for—and money to buy—hundreds of these machines fer the ordinary every-day development of the country. . It is not difficult to imagine a well-settled country extending 40 to 60 miles from a centre, and how aregular passenger service, carrying also mails and-parcels, would be received. In point of fact, it only requires some encouragement and initiative to develop or institute hundreds such.
Next comes the all-important question of -distribution, and it is one that hurts the British manufac turer more than anything. In the past, agencies have been handed over to shippers in England, who take a-profit, and hand the selling rights to agents in the capital or Auckland or Ohristclaurch, who also take a. profit and import the vehicles. These; in turn, sell to sub-agents, who require paying, and have to pay carriage on the complete machine from the head depot for the country. Is it any wonder that the country buyer, who is the important man of the future, demurs at paying some 2200 more for 'his car than it is advertised for in the COMMERCIAL MOTOR and'' The Motor," and buys a Ford or Fords ?
American manufacturers have made New Zealand a careful and especial study, and, whilst they are not all agreed on what must be done adequately to serve that market, still, so far as can be ascertained, none has appointed one single agent for the whole Domin ion or for either North or South Island. A study of a good map will suggest much ; a list of suitable agents with their financial standing would suggest even more, and -the -population of the various towns, with that of the surrounding districts, would give most. It is impossible to lay down as law that there must be an agent in direct touch with the manufac turer in four, six, eight, or ten places,' but one might well ask a kind of conundrum : How do you propose to serve the, following towns and their surrounding districts—Wellington, Napier Gisborne, Auckland, New Plymouth, Wanganui, 'Christchurch, Timaru, Dunedin, Invercargill, Greymouth and Nelson? These are twelve places, each to some extent a pro-. blem unto. itself. To appoint sole buying agents in each is unthinka.ble, yet business would inevitably languish if one attempted to work from one depot. How to meet this -condition is the question, and whilst it is by no means impossible to get a list of agents, their standing and financial position, the difficulty unquestionably lies in deciding amongst them and deciding which of all the centres most need direct. representation for the particular manufacturer.' Correspondence might last years and then not fill the bill, whilst it would be difficult to explain one's needs by mail to an attorney on the spot who could other wise act well enough. The only adequate solution is a visit to the country by each manufacturer or group of manufacturers, there -to develop the best scheme from the material available. In any case, it is a pity —nay, a shame—to abandon an intensely patriotic country like New Zealand to foreign manufacturers.