8:00 am, January 30, 2014
NISSAN has revealed that Coventry-based ADV Manufacturing will be responsible for the development and final assembly of its new Taxi for London.
The deal represents a joint £6m investment with Nissan to build a brand new, dedicated taxi manufacturing facility next to the firm’s existing premises.
ADV Manufacturing aims to deliver the first petrol-powered taxis in December 2014, while the finalised all-electric version – the e-NV200 – will be launched by Nissan in early 2015.
The base vehicle will be sourced from Nissan’s Barcelona factory and shipped to the ADV plant in Coventry for final taxi assembly. The extensive taxi transformation includes new bodywork, taxi interior refit and revised suspension and steering.
Andy Palmer, chief planning officer and executive vice president of Nissan Motor Corporation, revealed the news as part of his address to students at Coventry University, where he was delivering the prestigious Bugatti Lecture on the future of motoring.
Palmer said: ‘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. 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.’
Brendan O’Toole, CEO of ADV Manufacturing, said: ‘This is great news for ADV and indeed for the City of Coventry. The company is already taking on more engineers, technicians and other specialist staff to reinforce our product development group. We will be expanding and training our production team to build taxis from the early summer. We anticipate the Nissan taxi will become the new market standard and thereby underpin sustainable jobs at ADV for many years.’
Business secretary, Vince Cable, added: ‘Nissan has helped drive a renaissance in the British car industry with models like the Qashqai and Leaf, so it is good news the company has chosen to assemble its new taxi in Coventry. We have supported the project with a loan of nearly £4m through AMSCI (Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chain Initiative), the government’s jobs creation fund for manufacturing.’
