70 jobs to go as automotive manufacturer prepares for ‘challenging year’

Coventry-based taxi manufacturer London Electric Vehicle Company, which builds the famous black cabs, has announced 70 agency job losses just 24 hours after Prince Charles was given a tour of its new factory.

Owned by Chinese automotive company Geely, the company, which opened a £300m factory at Ansty Park in 2017, said that the year ahead would be “challenging” for the industry.

A spokesman for the factory said: “2019 will be a challenging year for UK automotive.

“To prepare the business we are reducing the number of agency staff and making productivity improvements.

“We still expect demand for our premium electric taxi to continue to grow over the coming years.”

The factory on the outskirts of Coventry was launched to produce electric and ultra-low emission versions of the famous London black taxi.

The 85,000 sq metre site, which created around 1,000 jobs, also houses all of the company’s research, development and assembly operations.

At the time of the launch, trade union Unite said the opening of the factory was one of the “great comeback stories in UK manufacturing history”.

In 2013, the then London Taxi International was on the brink of closure following the collapse of then parent, Manganese Bronze.