Nissan’s London taxi project is to be a British car – to a degree.
The brand has announced that final assembly of the Taxi for London will be carried out at Coventry-based ADV Manufacturing.
ADV and Nissan are jointly investing £6 million to build a brand new, dedicated taxi manufacturing facility in Coventry – regarded as the home of the British motor industry until the late 20th century.
The NV200 van base vehicles will be shipped to Coventry from Nissan’s plant in Barcelona, and ADV will convert them into taxis, adding new bodywork and interior and revising the suspension and steering.
ADV will build the new production facility for Nissan’s new Taxi for London adjacent to its existing premises, with a view to delivering the first petrol-engined vehicles in December 2014. The first Nissan taxis are expected to appear on the streets of London later this year while Nissan is also developing an electric version set to debut in 2015.
Nissan Chief Planning Officer and Executive Vice President Andy Palmer has revealed the news while delivering the Bugatti Lecture on the future of motoring to students at Coventry University.
“Our new Taxi for London is part of a wider, international taxi programme that forms a key part of Nissan’s global strategy, so we are naturally being very prudent in selecting our partners,” Palmer says.
“ADV has demonstrated that it has the proficiency and capability to deliver what we believe will become a new icon for London. We are pleased to be reinforcing once again our commitment to the British automotive industry and the fact that our black cabs will be rolling off the production line in Coventry, with its long history in the taxi business, is an added bonus.”
Coventry is also home to the London Taxi Company (LTC), which produces current models of the familiar black cab for the London market and others.
