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LTILondon Taxis International.
LTI Limited is Britain's premier manufacturer of purpose-built taxis. We are universally recognised for giving the UK the black cab, the icon of the world?s best taxi system.
Part of Manganese Bronze Holdings plc, we employ over 450 people at our Coventry manufacturing plant and wholly-owned Mann & Overton dealerships in London, Birmingham and Manchester. A further seven franchised dealerships and 61 service agents complete a nationwide sales, service and support network.
The first-ever black cab left the company?s Coventry factory in 1948. Since then, more than 100,000 vehicles have rolled off the production line. Nowadays, LTI taxis can be seen in large numbers on the streets of London and other cities and towns in Britain and around the world, including North America.
We pride ourselves on the robust design of our hand-built vehicles, which are renowned for their longevity and ability to cover hundreds of thousands of miles during a lifetime of use.
We continue to invest significantly in developing the best purpose-built taxis. The latest incarnation of the black cab is the TXII.
Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC is an engineering company based in Coventry, England. Since the sale of its components division in 2003 the company has only one operating division - London Taxis International Limited (LTI) - which manufactures and retails London Black Taxis.
LTI in turn is split into two business units:
London Taxis International which manufactures London Black Taxis;
Mann & Overton which retails and provides maintenance services for taxis in the major cities of the United Kingdom.
Taxi production
The classic FX3, predecessor to the FX4 was built by Carbodies, a car body builder in partnership with Mann & Overton and Austin. The FX3 taxi with an Austin badge was produced in 1948. More than 7,000 taxis, mainly destined for London, were produced over ten years. Carbodies concentrated on producing complete taxis, starting with the FX4 in 1959. They were taken over by Manganese Bronze Holdings plc in 1973. In 1982 Carbodies took over the intellectual rights to the FX4 from British Leyland which had absorbed Austin.
The latest model as of 2006 is the TX4. It is powered by a VM R 425 DOHC diesel engine and features many refinements and enhancements.
Its predecessor, the TXII, was introduced in 2002. It is powered by a Ford Dura Torq 2.4-litre diesel engine and features an integral, fold-down ramp for wheelchairs. It also has an intermediate step and swivel-out seat for passengers with moderate walking difficulties. For people with hearing problems it has an induction loop incorporated in the intercom system.
All taxis operated in London, UK must comply with the London Conditions of Fitness, which are managed by the Public Carriage Office (PCO). Formerly a civilan branch of the Metropolitan Police Service, the PCO is now part of Transport for London, under control of the Mayor of London.
Over 100,000 London Black Taxis have been produced at LTI's Coventry site over the past 45 years. Annual production has averaged between 2000 and 2500 units per year through the past decade.
Around two thirds of production goes into London via the company's two dealers, Mann & Overton and KPM. The remainder goes largely to the larger cities in the UK that have adopted the PCO's London Conditions of Fitness (including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry and Bristol). Outside these cities the market for taxis is dominated by Multi-purpose vehicles that have been converted to make them wheelchair accessible in line with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
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