12:41 pm, January 6, 2014
NISSAN has revealed its new NV200 Taxi for London in the Capital today.
The company’s European design centre in Paddington has worked with cabbies, the London Mayor’s office and Transport for London to develop a new-look for the NV200 that makes the model more instantly recognisable as a black cab.
Among the specific changes that have been made to the front of the NV200 taxi are round headlamps and a re-modelled grille mirroring the traditional black cab ‘face’, LED lighting to improve visibility of the traditional taxi sign and completely new front bumper panels.
Andy Palmer, chief planning officer and executive vice president, Nissan Motor Corporation, said: ‘Since we launched our Taxi for London in August 2012, we have worked closely with the Mayor’s office and associated stakeholders and interested parties to ensure that Nissan’s new cab not only raises the bar for both driver and passenger, but is also as instantly-recognisable as its legendary forebears.
‘Alongside this, our engineers at Nissan Technical Centre Europe in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, have continued work on the cab, running real-world trials on the streets of London.’
Nissan intends to put the NV200 Taxi for London on sale in the Capital in December 2014. From launch the new taxi will be available with a 1.6-litre petrol engine equipped with an automatic gearbox. Compared to current diesel London taxis, Nissan says the engine will be far cleaner, with lower levels of NOx and particulates.
Nissan will introduce a 100 per cent electric version (pictured right) and aims to have the e-NV200 on the streets of London years ahead of the Mayor’s target of 2020 for the development of a zero-emissions taxi. Nissan’s electric taxi will be on the streets of a UK city in 2015.
Dealer group Glyn Hopkin has been named as the exclusive retailer of the new taxi.
