Was in London today when I saw some kind of mercedes vehicle with taxi
light on the front. I first though that it was an out of town one on
a London job but no on the back was the PCO plate.

So basically that is the end of the old London taxi. The iconic
design has been around since I dont know when. I am surprised that
there has not been any fuss about it like the end of the routemaster.

Mercedes - Benz Vito Taxi approved earlier this year & widely reported
in London - eg
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...cab/article.do

I don't see what merits the TX4 has over it - other than Britain
manufacturing jobs perhaps.



--
Robin

"neverwas" wrote ...
I don't see what merits the TX4 has over it - other than Britain
manufacturing jobs perhaps.

"Between July 2003 and November 2004 MBH sold its property portfolio,
including the land under its Coventry manufacturing facility.
In January 2007, an Extraordinary General Meeting of the shareholders
approved a joint venture with Geely Automobile to manufacture the London
Black Cab and other vehicles in China."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manganese_Bronze_Holdings



If it hasn't started yet, it won't be long!
--

Andrew

"She plays the tuba.
It is the only instrument capable
of imitating a distress call."

"neverwas" wrote in message
om...
Mercedes - Benz Vito Taxi approved earlier this year & widely reported in
London - eg
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...cab/article.do

I don't see what merits the TX4 has over it - other than Britain
manufacturing jobs perhaps.


I thought that the Benz Vito was simply an option, and that there are no
plans to get rid of the standard designs.

wrote ...
Mercedes - Benz Vito Taxi approved earlier this year & widely reported in
I don't see what merits the TX4 has over it - other than Britain
manufacturing jobs perhaps.
I thought that the Benz Vito was simply an option, and that there are no
plans to get rid of the standard designs.

Quite right; it's a free market.
Just the Mercedes is probably better, and certainly better value than the
TX4 unless they drop their prices to planet Earth. Which they may well do,
when faced with competition.
--

Andrew

"She plays the tuba.
It is the only instrument capable
of imitating a distress call."

On 30 Nov, 20:06, wrote:
I thought that the Benz Vito was simply an option, and that there are no
plans to get rid of the standard designs.

It's ultimately not up to TfL. Any manufacturer can ask TfL to approve
a design, and if it meets the specs then it's allowed. It's just up
until now, only the LTI designs have been on the list. I'd be
surprised if UK/EU competition rules allowed them to do it any other
way.

(though that makes wonder how the BorisBus will be contracted, given
there's surely only going to be one manufacturer of them)

U

On Sun, 30 Nov 2008, Andrew Heenan wrote:

wrote ...
Mercedes - Benz Vito Taxi approved earlier this year & widely reported in
I don't see what merits the TX4 has over it - other than Britain
manufacturing jobs perhaps.
I thought that the Benz Vito was simply an option, and that there are no
plans to get rid of the standard designs.

Quite right; it's a free market. Just the Mercedes is probably better,
and certainly better value than the TX4 unless they drop their prices to
planet Earth. Which they may well do, when faced with competition.

According to the article, the Merc is going to be about the same price as
the TX4. It's only going to be better value if it's a substantially better
vehicle - is it?

tom

--
buy plastic owl

"Tom Anderson" wrote ...
According to the article, the Merc is going to be about the same price as
the TX4. It's only going to be better value if it's a substantially better
vehicle - is it?

The specification appears to be superior; but I've not been able to find an
'in depth' comparison.

There's no doubt that the TX4 is severely overpriced - almost to the point
of silliness - and new entrant to the market, with so much to play for,
would be loopy to start off the same way.

(No guarantees, of course!)
--

Andrew

"She plays the tuba.
It is the only instrument capable
of imitating a distress call."

On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:01:01 +0000, Tom Anderson
wrote:

According to the article, the Merc is going to be about the same price as
the TX4. It's only going to be better value if it's a substantially better
vehicle - is it?

Dunno, but I'm sure I've read that the Merc Vito isn't exactly
Mercedes' finest hour, with reliability problems galore.

It's quite possibly a better vehicle for the passenger, as I've always
found getting into and out of a "traditional" taxi a bit of a pain,
because the door is too far away from the seats.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:35:58 -0800 (PST), Mr Thant
wrote:

(though that makes wonder how the BorisBus will be contracted, given
there's surely only going to be one manufacturer of them)

Because it'll be a bulk purchase either by TfL or the bus companies,
it'll probably go out to tender. This is a rather different situation
than taxis, where a lot of drivers also own their vehicle and can thus
purchase whatever they feel like so long as it fits the spec.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.