Faulty steering on London black cabs now fixedAdministrators for Manganese Bronze, which went into administration in October after taxi sales were suspended, said that all 401 vehicles were now back on the road
More than 400 taxis that were recalled due to faulty steering have been fixed, two months after they were taken off the road owing to safety fears.
The recall by taxi maker Manganese Bronze led to its collapse into administration in October after sales of the faulty vehicles were suspended.
Negotiations to find a buyer continue, and 12 production staff who were laid off have been re-employed to fit the new steering boxes.
The company's administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said all 401 cabs were back on the road and workers at its Coventry production line will start to fix the 600 largely new and unregistered vehicles affected.
However, 99 of 176 employees were made redundant following the appointment of the administrators.
Matthew Hammond, PwC partner and joint administrator, said he was delighted the taxis were now repaired. He added: "Although it's too early to say definitively, we are hopeful that we will sell the business as a going concern."
The second phase of fixing the remaining taxis should be completed by the end of February and at a faster rate than the first 401, because most are in the single location on the production line.
It took the company, which built its first black cab in 1948, nearly a month to find a solution to the steering box issues on its TX4 models and another month to fix the vehicles affected.
source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012 ... cabs-fixed
Login
Register
FAQ
