London's black cabs to roll on Pakistani streets

United Kingdom-owned carmaker, Manganese Bronze, is in talks that could lead to traditional London taxis rolling along streets of Pakistan by the end of the year. The maker of black cabs have confirmed that it will be ready to start shipping its cabs to Pakistan within months after a series of talks with Prime Transport, a listed Karachi-based company.
The vehicles are manufactured by a Manganese Bronze subsidiary, London Taxis International, which became largest UK-owned carmaker after demise of MG Rover last year. The Pakistan government has given Prime Transport permission to import first 300 taxis duty-free, its Chief Executive Dawood Khan told The Times of London.
The company also wants to start building an assembly plant on a 300-acre site in Karachi in January and plans to produce up to 4,000 black cabs in Pakistan each year.
"We are very anxious to get this started. We want to begin operation in December. That means we will be importing complete built-up taxis from the UK," he said.
"Early next year we should start building assembly line in Karachi. We anticipate we will be producing around 3,500 to 4,000 vehicles a year for Pakistani market," he said.
The cabs, which Prime Transport plans to sell to taxi firms rather than individuals, initially would operate in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore, Khan said. They would carry passengers to and from Pakistan's leading international airports, where parking spaces and booking offices had been provided for them, he added.
A spokesman for Manganese Bronze confirmed that the company was in talks with Prime Transport and had received an order for 300 taxis. "Prime Transport continues to talk to Manganese Bronze and remains keen to do a deal. Manganese Bronze would be delighted to export taxis to Pakistan," he said, adding that this could take place by the end of year.
There are about 21,000 black cabs in London made by Manganese and thousands more across UK, as well as small numbers around rest of the world, in countries such as the United States, Spain and South Africa.