London's legendary back cab steps out in the world

COVENTRY, England, Oct 4 (AFP) - The quintessentially British black cab has been plying the high streets and back streets of London for decades. Now, its makers say, it's time it got out and about in the world.

London Taxis International (LTI), the biggest manufacturer of the world's only purpose-built taxi vehicle, is embarking on a concerted effort to sell the British icon on wheels in two very different markets.

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One is North America, where LTI's TXII model is making its debut in windy Chicago, not to mention taking pride of place in the California garage of actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The other is China, where LTI says it is in the final stages of finding a local partner to produce the black cab -- which actually comes in a dozen colors -- for the East Asian market.

"It's one of the true icons of the motoring industry," LTI's managing director Peter Shillcock told AFP at its plant in Coventry, in the English Midlands, where an average of 2,500 TXIIs roll off the assembly line every year.

"Wherever you go, people know the London black cab -- and that's something, " he said. "We need to exploit that."

LTI and its smaller rival Metrocab have exported the odd taxi over the years to more than 30 countries as diverse as South Africa, Russia and Japan where black cabs are popular as wedding limousines.

Last year, LTI shipped 10 vehicles to Israel. It also recently sold 54 to Spain, its biggest single foreign order, even though Europe is not yet a priority export market.

The bulk of production has stayed in Britain, however, most visibly in London where only LTI and Metrocab vehicles -- which typically sell for around 30,000 pounds (42,750 euros, 50,000 dollars) -- meet strict "conditions of fitness" including a super-tight 7.6 meter (25 foot) turning circle.

Those conditions were renewed this year by London Mayor Ken Livingstone, protecting LTI and Metrocab in their home market against potential competition from cheaper multi-purpose vehicles or "people movers".

But with the British economy in a lower gear, sales have hit a bump, with LTI's unit taxi sales at home dipping 10 percent in the year to July 31 -- making expansion abroad all the more interesting.

"The United Kingdom is a static market, really," said Shillcock, a veteran of BMW's wildly successful New Mini project. "The growth potential really comes from abroad."

LTI is putting into place a comprehensive export strategy that bundles vehicle sales with after-sales service, based on its years of experience in working with notoriously hard-to-please London cabbies.

Its Boston-based North American distributor Larry Smith has so far lined up more than 125 orders for two TXII export versions, a standard model for taxi fleets and a Burberry-trimmed executive model for more discerning buyers.

Twenty-six of the former have gone to Chicago's Yellow Cab Company, which runs one of the biggest taxi fleets in the United States, and other TXIIs are headed to operators in California, Florida and Canada.

One-off buyers include "Terminator" star Schwarzenegger, and for Christmas the TXII is being pitched in the exclusive Neiman Marcus catalog.

Several US-bound cabs can be seen on LTI's production line in Coventry, with the driver's seat and steering wheel repositioned to the left and US-compliant exhaust systems fitted beneath the all-steel chassis.

In East Asia, LTI wants to build the LXII with a Chinese partner for sale in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, a prospect that opens the door to parts being shipped back to Coventry for use in the British-built models.

LTI used to have a partnership with minivan maker Brilliance China Automotive, but that ended in July with a 1.25 million pound compensation payment from Brilliance following its own problems with the Chinese government.

Metrocab is meanwhile finding its feet after going through receivership.

It now makes 250 vehicles a year at its Tamworth plant, also in the Midlands, but marketing and sales director Stephen Ferris says it aims to double its output as it seeks export and production opportunities abroad.

"We're looking at the Far East, Arab countries and South America," he told AFP. "Those are three principal markets where labor is considerably cheaper and where there's a strong automotive industry" from which to source components.

Metrocab is also studying the European market, and is developing both a left-hand-drive model and a low-emission hybrid vehicle that it hopes to have ready within two years, Ferris said.

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