NZ’s first motor industry trade magazine turns 90

New Zealand’s first motor industry trade magazine turns 90

At a time when traditional media forms throughout the world have struggled to stay afloat, one local magazine marks a significant milestone. Many well known names have fallen by the wayside as a combination of falling advertising and sales revenues along with the steady encroachment of online media have displaced many well known New Zealand titles.

This week sees the 90th anniversary of the day - 15 May 1920 - when the Motor Garage Proprietors and Cycle Traders Association, now known as the Motor Trade Association (MTA), published New Zealand’s first motor industry trade publication – Radiator magazine.

From humble beginnings of a black and white journal, printed using letterpress and ‘hot metal’ typesetting machines, Radiator has grown to become one of the longest running trade magazines, and indeed magazines in general, in New Zealand.

Radiator was established by the then secretary F.J. Cousins in Wellington, to meet the industry need to ‘provide the sharing of ideas and knowledge and to raise the status of the motor industry’. The magazine grew rapidly and attracted industry contributors, quickly becoming a popular advertising medium for motor goods to the trade.

Early editions of the magazine featured many of the same common themes the industry is faced with today, from fuel and oil prices, tax and government compliance, to technological changes, lobbying and advocating for member interests amongst regulators along with maintaining high standards of operation and trading behaviour

The first issue was a solid 52 pages, and had a circulation of 600 copies. By the mid twenties, New Zealand was in the midst of a motor industry boom and was fast becoming a motoring nation, which saw Radiator expand to 64 pages with a circulation of 1,000 copies per month.

Many worldwide disruptions over the past 90 years have threatened Radiator’s survival, from the Great Depression, World War II resulting in low paper stocks, Stock Market Crash and the world oil crises. Despite these difficult times, Radiator has continued to serve as a foundation for the automotive industry.

Today, Radiator is distributed to managers and owners of more than 4,500 automotive related businesses and has an estimated pass-on readership of 33,000. MTA is proud to have met and continued the challenge of its original founders in 1920.

To celebrate the 90-year anniversary of Radiator, the magazine has taken on a new look and feel, including the introduction of several new columns and features.

ENDS

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