H.—40

The foregoing figures are expressed as percentages in the following table : —

The above table shows a steady growth of the share of new cars obtained by Great Britain up till the depression year of 1933, when 60 per cent, came from that source. Then came a drop following upon the improving economic conditions, with a sudden increase for 1936-37 to 57 per cent. This increase during a boom period is no doubt due to the increased prosperity of the community. A somewhat similar trend is noticeable in the case of commercial vehicles, excepting for the increase in vehicles from Great Britain in 1936-37. In this case the imports from the United States of America and Canada out-numbered commercial-vehicle imports from Great Britain by over 2to 1. It should be noted that the figures from " other countries " has been omitted from the percentage table ; this is because practically all of the figures under that heading refer to trailers, 2,003 of the 2,053 vehicles under that heading for 1936-37 being for trailers. In the motor-cycle field the British entry shows an increasing predominance since the depression years, and the slight swing-over to American machines has not been maintained. Foreign motorcycles do not appear to be able to establish any hold on the New Zealand motor-cycle market.

7

p , United States of n ,, _ T , „, Year ended 31st March, I Br [ tain Countries. Registrations. Motor-cars. 1927 .. ..13 83 4 100 1928 .... 17 81 2 100 1929 .... 15 84 1 100 1930 .... 17 82 1 100 1931 .... 26 73 1 100 1932 .... 42 57 1 100 1933 .... 60 39 1 100 1934 .. ..56 43 1 100 1935 .... 47 52 1 100 1936 .. .. 48 52 .. 100 1937 .... 57 43 .. 100 Totals .. 36 63 1 100 Commercial Vehicles. 1927 .. .. j 14 86 .. 100 1928 .. .. 1 16 84 .. 100 1929 .. .. 14 86 100 1930 .. .. 9 91 .. 100 1931 .. .. 11 89 .. 100 1932 .... 22 78 .. 100 1933 .. ..37 63 .. 100 1934 .. .. 39 61 .. 100 1935 .. .. 31 69 .. 100 1936 .. .. 29 71 .. 100 1937 .... 28 72 .. 100 Totals .. 23 77 .. 100 Motor-cycles. 1927 .. .. 70 30 .. ' 100 1928 .. .. 76 24 .. 100 1929 .. .. 80 20 .. 100 1930 .. .. 81 19 .. 100 1931 .. .. 82 ! 18 .. 100 1932 .. .. 76 24 .. 100 1933 .... 73 26 1 100 1934 .... 73 26 1 100 1935 .... 75 24 1 100 1936 .... 78 20 2 100 1937 .. .. 86 14 .. 100 Totals 77 22 1 100