Nissan has today unveiled the new face of its Taxi for London, re-designed to make it instantly recognisable as one of the capital’s iconic black cabs.
Based on the company’s successful multi-purpose NV200 platform, the vehicle was first unveiled as a bold and exciting new vision for the famous London Hackney Carriage in August 2012. In response to feedback from the London Mayor’s office, Transport for London and other key organisations which have put their backing behind the new taxi, Nissan has redesigned the vehicle to better reflect the iconic nature of the traditional black cab.
Nissan’s newly-redesigned taxi has been developed for London, in London, by Nissan Design Europe (NDE) in Paddington, the same design centre responsible for the Qashqai and Juke. The new taxi will be launched in December 2014 with a modern, clean, 1.6-litre petrol engine equipped with an automatic gearbox. Furthermore, Nissan will launch a zero emission electric version of the NV200 taxi in 2015.
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, 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, this engine will be far cleaner, with lower levels of NOx and particulates.
Nissan is also forging ahead with its pioneering work in the sustainable motoring field, developing a 100 per cent electric taxi – the e-NV200 – which it aims to have 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.
