Taxi company confirms £250m investment plans for Coventry

CHINESE automotive company Geely has confirmed plans to invest £250m to build a new state-of the-art research, development and assembly facility for the London Taxi Company in Coventry.

The new factory will be based at Ansty Park and will develop the next generation electric and ultra-low emission London Black Cab.

The 85,000 sq metre site, which create up to 1,000 new jobs, will also house all of the company’s research, development and assembly operations.

The announcement comes a day after Jaguar Land Rover confirmed its own expansion plans for its base in Coventry.

The new factory will eventually have the capacity to assemble up to 36,000 vehicles a year. This is a ten-fold increase on capacity at the company’s existing site in Holyhead Road, Coventry, which has been home to the London Taxi Company for almost 70 years.

Geely’s commitment to the London Taxi Company marks the largest ever greenfield investment in the UK by a Chinese company and is being backed with funding from the UK Government’s Regional Growth Fund and other UK and local government support.

The investment comes as the London Taxi Company continues the development of the next generation London Black Cab, which will be an ultra-low emissions vehicle to comply with new regulations being introduced by the Mayor of London that will reduce the level of emissions allowed from new taxis from January 2018.

The new vehicle will be developed using significantly increased UK and EU content, bringing economic benefits through the supply chain. It will be launched in the UK at the end of 2017 and across international markets in 2018.

Geely said the investment underlined its commitment to LTC and the UK following its rescue of the business out of administration in 2013, following the collapse of Manganese Bronze.

Since then, the new owners have invested significantly to restart production and fund the development of the successor to the existing TX4 taxi.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Geely’s £250m investment and the creation of up to 1,000 jobs is great news for Coventry and a vote of confidence in our long-term economic plan to back business, create jobs and secure the recovery.

“It means that more hardworking people will have the financial security that a job and regular pay-packet bring and demonstrates that the UK is open for business. The London Black Cab is iconic around the world and I am pleased that the next generation will have a state of the art production facility in the UK.”

 

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