§ Mr. Robert Jenkinsasked the Minister of Supply if a decision has yet been reached on the representations he has received from the motor industry about the allocation of vehicles between the home and export markets.
§ Mr. SandysIn order to give motor manufacturers a greater incentive to export vehicles, I have agreed with the industry that the home quota should no longer be a fixed figure, but should be calculated as a proportion of output. The industry have undertaken to endeavour to export not less than 80 per cent. of their output of passenger cars, 70 per cent. of light commercial vehicles and 50 per cent. of heavy commercial vehicles. Allocations of steel to the industry will in future be more closely related to export performance.
Assuming the present rate of production continues, the application of these percentages would provide deliveries to the home market at annual rates of some 90,000 passenger cars and 77,000 commercial vehicles. This represents an appreciable increase over the home quotas fixed previously. On the other hand, it involves a substantial reduction in the actual rate of deliveries to the home market, which, in the case of passenger cars, have for the last two years been running at the rate of over 110,000 a year.