Per capita income at that time was low, the principal means of transportation being bicycles and oxcarts. Moreover, the Japanese colonial policy was: "Agriculturize Taiwan, industrialize Japan." There was no basis for industrial production and no market or technology.
當時政府遷台不久，百廢待興，有力問津汽車的人極少；而且日據時代，日本政府實施「農業台灣，工業日本」的殖民地經濟政策，使台灣全無機械工業基礎。