Manganese Bronze , the maker of the classic London taxi and a former niche player in Coventry 's once booming car-making arena , is now the last car company in the city and enjoys the curious status of being the biggest London-listed car maker by volume . Maker of London 's classic black cabs is linking with Chinese carmaker Geely . However , it is struggling with the recession . Production is down to 12 vehicles a day during a four-day week in the UK and is barely at break even . Priced between £30,000 and £34,000 , they are not cheap . Regulations such as the requirements of turning circles have helped protect the company 's dominant supply position in recent years -- but it has suffered a fall of up to 40 per cent in demand during the past year . In contrast to sluggish UK production , the company is working flat out to export the London cab internationally . With the start of commercial production and sales of the taxis in China by a joint venture with carmaker Geely , it pins its hopes on the London taxi becoming an affordable option for cabbies worldwide . After an aborted attempt to set up a manufacturing and sales licensing deal with Brilliance China Automotive in 2002 , Manganese Bronze turned to Geely in 2006 . The Chinese automaker , which has become a 20 per cent shareholder in the company , has finally begun production of London taxis in a plant in Shanghai . The joint venture , Shanghai LTI , in which Manganese Bronze holds a 48 per cent stake , hopes to sell 1,000 vehicles in China this year -- with expectations of a further 3,000 in territories beyond Asia such as Turkey , Saudi Arabia , Bahrain and Spain in the course of the next three years . Geely expects the average Chinese black cab to sell for about £10,000 , with production costs as low as £4,000 on a production line capable of producing 40,000 vehicles a year . John Russell , Manganese Bronze 's chief executive , does not claim demand will reach that level -- which is about 20 times the current sales rate in the UK market . But he insists the taxis can find a premium niche among operators with millions of vehicles used as taxis and minicabs worldwide . Mr Russell says : `` If we were [ only ] a car company , making two or three thousand cars a year , we would have gone out of business years ago . In London , taxi drivers , `` hearing tales of doom and gloom '' as they carried City bankers and hedge fund managers in the autumn of 2007 became lead indicators of consumer belt-tightening . They deferred new vehicle purchases , which now hover at about 2,000 units a year rather than the 3,000 that can be produced to meet peak demand . Manganese Bronze -- which was also affected by an embarrassing product recall last year after a series of fires in its vehicles -- has responded by cutting headcount , pay and shifts . It plans a £9.4m placing of shares in June to shore up its balance sheet -- as it has slipped into the red . If the UK business is fragile , there is no doubting the robustness of the black cabs that have rolled off the production line at Manganese Bronze 's plant for several decades . London taxis typically cover between 20,000 and 30,000 miles a year -- with annual mileages of 100,000 clocked up by some cabbies in far-flung parts of Scotland . The average life span of a vehicle is 12-13 years with many taxis , often driven across shifts by different drivers , covering more than a million miles during their time on the road . The company has found innovative ways to save money , says Mr Russell . `` Two years ago , if you had stress-tested many companies for a 30 or 40 per cent fall in business , most would have predicted they could not survive , '' he says , acknowledging the `` But businessses have adjusted and found innovative ways to save money , he adds -efforts from both shopfloor and boardroom . In spite of the low Chinese production costs and production capacity , Mr Russell also insists he will maintain production for the domestic market in the UK . The joint venture should also see UK production costs cut as a result of components supplied by China . `` We ca n't stand on our own two feet without China , '' says Mr Russell , whose business cards are in English and Chinese characters . `` We [ have ] always said the business is fragile . '' But he adds : `` There is significant value in being a UK producer . `` Can you imagine BMW and VW not producing in Germany ? We need a UK manufacturing presence . '' © The Financial Times Limited 2009 .
Manganese Bronze , UK 's struggling cab maker , in joint venture in China . Tie-up with Manganese Bronze hopes to sell 12 vehicles in foriegn markets . China production now down to 4000 vehicles a day and company is barely breaking even .