Chinese firm snaps up famous London taxi maker

Manganese Bronze's Coventry plant will continue making black cabs

More than 100 jobs have been secured after the maker of the London taxi was bought out of administration in a deal worth £11 million.

Coventry-based Manganese Bronze has been acquired by Chinese private automaker Geely, which owned a 20% stake in the firm before it collapsed into administration last October.

Manganese hit the wall after recalling 500 black cabs due to a steering box fault, which came on top of mounting losses at the group.

Geely pledged to retain the group's 107 staff and existing manufacturing site in Coventry.

But 156 jobs have already been axed since Manganese called in administrators.

Geely said it was “confident” of being able to create new jobs and plans new taxi models with improved energy efficiency, while it is also looking at launching into the private hire market.

Li Shufu, chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said the firm has “ambitious plans” for the business.

“Despite its recent difficulties, we have long believed that the company and the 'black cab' have huge potential,” he added.

Manganese, which traces its roots back to the 19th century as a maker of ship propellers, was thrown into turmoil last autumn when it discovered a defect with new steering boxes in its TX4 models, which were introduced in production at its Coventry factory late last February.

The group was forced to suspend production and repair and replace all affected models. Manganese said that all the cabs which were recalled are now fixed and back on the road.

Its London Taxi arm was already suffering amid a consumer spending slowdown and increased rivalry from competitors, such as Eco City vehicles, and Manganese had been loss-making for the past four years.

The group's London Taxi Company division makes about 2,700 cabs a year and has produced more than 100,000 since it started in 1948. Its newest model, the TX4, was launched in October 2006.

Following today's takeover, Geely chief financial officer Daniel Li will become chairman of the Geely UK and Peter Johansen, formerly group finance director of Manganese Bronze, will be appointed executive vice president of the Black Cab operation.

While the holding company will be known as Geely UK, the new owner said it will retain the London Taxi International brand.