I have also been asked to take the Purchase Tax off cars sold in this country. I regret that I cannot do this now, nor can I hold out any hopes—I am told that the trade want a definite statement, and I will give it—of doing it for some time to come. Here again, there are many other claims for remission of Purchase Tax which I must put in front of this. The motor industry, and would-be purchasers of private cars in this country, should therefore proceed on the assumption that the Purchase Tax on cars will stay.
I hope the motor industry is going to export a lot more than it sells at home. There is to-day a sellers' market for cars, as for other British exports, in many different parts of the world and I hope that the motor industry will fully exploit it. This is a time for exporters not only to renew contacts with old markets but to find their way into new ones and there is, of course, no Purchase Tax on cars which manufacturers export. To this extent therefore, the export trade is stimulated, as it should be.