China hails black cab agreement

One of the biggest manufacturers of the iconic London black cab has signed a £53m joint-venture agreement to build the car in China. Manganese Bronze's proposed new plant in Shanghai will be able to make up to 20,000 taxis a year.

The vehicles are earmarked for China and other emerging car markets. A legally-binding agreement between Manganese Bronze and Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely is expected to be signed in the next few weeks. The UK firm will invest £19.85m as its share of the venture and will have the rights to sell the cars to markets outside of Asia.

Finance director Mark Fryer said that the deal, when finalised, would "increase the appeal of our iconic vehicle around the world". "There are more than one million vehicles used as taxis in China, and the London taxi will add to the choice available to the Chinese consumer," Mr Fryer said.

"Big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai offer major opportunities but Geely has more than 1,000 dealerships across China so it's a truly nationwide prospect." As well operating as regular taxis, the vehicles will be sold as limousines to hotels and to wealthy private owners.

Zhejiang Geely, which began making cars in 1996, has seen car demand grow by 50% in the last six months and its chairman Li Shufu welcomed the proposed deal. Hong Kong already has London taxis which were made elsewhere and shipped to the territory.

Adapted from BBC Online, October 2006

chinese translation | japanese translation | korean translation