Taxi Driver Online

nganese Bronze, the maker of London's black cabs, has called in administrators Grant Thornton after saying it is no longer a going concern.

The appointment follows the suspension of its shares earlier this month, after a fault with the vehicle's steering box led to 400 of them being recalled.

Manganese Bronze, which is based in Coventry, had been trying to source new funding, but negotiations failed.

The company has made losses for the past four years.

Manganese Bronze earlier this month also stopped sales of its new TX4 model.

The problem affects the vehicles' power steering and arose in a new design for the box, sourced from an unnamed new supplier since February.

The company said it had not put anyone in danger but "in extreme cases, it could affect the ability to steer the steering wheel".

It said in a statement that "the Board remains hopeful that the fundamental strengths of the company, the TX4 model and its global reputation will provide the platform for a successful business in the future".

Chinese partner
The supplier of the part was a Chinese firm introduced by Manganese's Chinese partner, Geely.

Manganese and Geely signed a joint venture agreement in 2006 and own a factory in Shanghai that produces taxis for the international market.

The company was already in some financial difficulty before the latest problem emerged.

Sales have been in decline - the Coventry-based firm sold 1,502 taxis in the UK last year, compared with 1,653 in 2010, a fall of 9.1%.

In January, Manganese Bronze had to issue a profit warning, saying that it had made no profit in 2011 and could fall short of expectations this year.

The group blamed the weak UK economy, uncertainty over the global economic outlook and a delay in fulfilling an order for 1,000 taxis from Azerbaijan.

For the first six months of 2012, Manganese Bronze recorded an operating loss of £3.1m on revenues of £34.3m.

Then in August, it discovered an accounting error had caused it to understate past losses by a total £4.25m.

The company's shares were last quoted on the stock exchange at 10 pence each, down from 35p a year ago.

Much of the company's shares are closely held: Geely owns 20%, while another quarter is owned by UK asset manager Toscafund.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20031436

and in a week they will reopen, no warranty claims please folks "we are a totally different company"

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

No in a weeks time the administrators will sell it to the Chinese for a £1 and miraculously the Chinese will have a container load of replacement steering boxes sitting on the quayside at Felixtowe within a month and hey presto the share holders will have lost everything but the company will suddenly be a going concern

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

But what happens to those 400 with the iffy boxes?

The longer this mess goes on the greater the loss for the drivers.

I suppose if they bought on credit they can claim against the credit firm.

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IDFIMH

they will get a bill

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

On the London boards, they recon there could be as many as 1500 off the road due to the age limit, and there is no more to rent, they are calling for the suspension of this age limit so they can source cabs from the rest of the UK, or the scrapping of the turning circle so they can by any type of hack

I think that's the only solution should LTI remain dead.

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IDFIMH

remember many completed new Lti cabs at dealers will now belong to the liquidators as many will have been forwarded "sale or return" like any other manufacturer, they may all be rounded up and sent back under "right of title" or sold by the liquidators where they are, they could be a bargin, if if you need a new steering box!

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Won't their steering boxes be as iffy as the rest?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

not once the buyer of Manganese buys the stillage full of new boxes sat at the factory for £50 off the liquidators

i worked a place who went bust and the liquidators moved in, oh the fun we had.....

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

There is a tfl meeting this afternoon to discuss the situation.we will be putting in an application for the E7.
Cheers
Simon

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

You and your upper crust betters couldn't even spell competent, let alone be it.

Also got bugger all to do with this thread, BTW. Nice racist rant though.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

and Jockistan has such a wealth of car building history of course... they had space for factories when we cleared the highlands and the poor legged it to the USA

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

I think E7 version of motors are quite good, and if they were built to last a bit better then there would be no reason to buy a TX. So the lads in Glasgow do an ok job with the conversions, it's just that I'm not convinced the motor is up to it in the longer term.

I like the Merc/TW conversion done in Coventry, but would still what state they are in after 5-7 years of work. Not convinced they will last much longer than that.

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IDFIMH