Off the wire
• EU to end milk quota on March 31  • Roundup: Egypt joins Saudi-led anti-Houthi forces in Yemen  • Roundup: Cuba hosts U.S. delegation on improving bilateral telecommunications  • Britain, Norway agree to build world's longest sub-sea power cable  • News Analysis: Arab intervention in Yemen double-edged sword  • Nigeria re-opens sea borders for economic activities  • France 1 Brazil 1 - halftime  • UN chief to open first-ever meeting of senior military officials on UN peacekeeping  • UN chief urges world to remain vigilant against threat of biological weapons  • Czech people hold protest against U.S. army convoy  
You are here: 　 Home

New plant capable of building 36,000 eco-friendly London cabs a year

Xinhua, March 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

The London Taxi Company, owned by the Chinese-based Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, today confirmed its new production plant near Rugby will have a capacity to build 36,000 of the iconic taxis a year, a ten-fold increase compared to now.

The vehicles will be powered by zero-emission electric motors to meet changing 'green' rules being introduced in London from 2018.

The first taxis will hit the road in 2017, just ahead of the new ultra-low emission rules coming into force to control vehicles operating within Britain's capital.

Last month London Taxi Company won permission to build a new headquarters and factory just outside the university city of Rugby.

The new plant will initially employ 550 staff with an anticipated rise to over 1,000 in the next few years. Work will also be created for an estimated 500 workers in the component supply chain.

The new facility will eventually have the capacity to assemble up to 36,000 vehicles a year compared to the company's existing plant which has been its home for almost 70 years.

The announcement comes just 24-hours after Jaguar Land Rover announced a major expansion, also in England's West Midlands region that will create thousands of auto jobs.

In a statement today Li Shufu, founder and chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said the investment will secure the future of London Taxi Company.

He said in the statement released by the London Taxi Company: "Almost two years after we acquired this company - in which we first took a stake in 2006 - it has become an important part of our global automotive strategy.

"Today's announcement symbolises the close business links between China and the UK, which is an attractive market for Chinese inward investment.

"The London Taxi expansion will demonstrate the benefits of Anglo-Chinese partnerships, showing how we can harness our resources, industrial know-how and technology to produce an environmentally-friendly next generation electric and ultra-low emission London Black Cab that China and the UK will be proud of, and which can be a world-beater in export markets." Endit