The London Taxi Company
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 10 March 1899 |
| Headquarters | Coventry, United Kingdom |
| Products | Taxicabs |
| Revenue | £74.98 million (2011) |
| (£1.31 million) (pre-exceptionals) (2011) | |
| (£2.63 million) (pre-exceptionals) (2011) | |
| Total assets | £58.8 million (31 December 2011) |
| Total equity | £16 million (31 December 2011) |
| Owner | Zhejiang Geely Holding Group |
|
Number of employees
|
274 (2012) |
| Parent | Geely UK Ltd. |
| Website | london-taxis.co.uk |
The London Taxi Corporation Ltd (trading as The London Taxi Company; formerly Manganese Bronze Holdings plc) is an automotive engineering company headquartered in Coventry, United Kingdom, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese automaker Geely. It was founded in 1899 and its principal activity is the design, development and production of taxicabs.
Once an important conglomerator of British motorcycle marques, the sale of its components division in 2003 left the company with only one operating division—LTI Limited, trading as The London Taxi Company—which manufactures London black taxicabs for the UK market at its manufacturing site in Coventry and in Shanghai for sale in the rest of the world. It retails and provides maintenance services for taxis in major cities globally.
In October 2012, Manganese entered administration, having not made a profit since 2007. Geely, which already owned 20% of the shares in the company's UK business, agreed to purchase the London Taxi Company's principal assets and trade from the administrator in order to save the business and continue the production of taxis in Coventry.
Manganese originally made ship propellers. In the early 1960s Manganese Bronze Bearings Ltd (as it was then known) was taken over by Villiers Engineering Ltd, a motorcycle company chiefly known for its range of engines, creating Manganese Bronze Holdings Ltd. This company subsequently bought Associated Motor Cycles Ltd, owners of the Norton AJS and Matchless motorcycle brands in 1964.
Manganese absorbed part of the Birmingham Small Arms Company in 1973, under chairman Dennis Poore, as part of a rescue plan initiated by the British government. BSA Motorcycles interests trading as Triumph were combined with Manganese motorcycle production to form Norton Villiers Triumph. BSA Guns was liquidated in 1986. BSA's components businesses became Manganese Bronze Components Division, comprising sintering, precision casting and metal powders; this division was sold in 2003 and went bankrupt a short period later.
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