Kōrero: Cars and the motor industry

Workers sand down the body of a vehicle before it is spray-painted at the General Motors assembly plant in Petone, in 1936. Cars were assembled from ‘CKD’ (completely knocked down) kits. This meant they arrived as parts packed in wooden crates. The Petone plant opened in 1926, and by 1936 more than 37,000 vehicles had been assembled there.