In response to feedback from the London Mayor’s office, Transport for London and other key organisations, Nissan has redesigned its NV200 London taxi to better reflect the iconic nature of the traditional black cab.
The vehicle now sports circular headlamps, new front bumper panels and a large V-shaped front grille with vertical slats, while LEDs improve the visibility of the taxi sign on the roof. No Nissan grille badge, though.
Developed in London, for London, by Nissan Design Europe in Paddington, the Nissan NV200 Taxi for London is set to launch in December 2014. A 115 hp/158 Nm 1.6 litre petrol engine will drive the front wheels through an auto gearbox. CO2 emissions should duck under 180 grams, but a zero-emissions electric version, the e-NV200 taxi, is set to be launched in 2015.
Among the taxi’s planned features are a driver/passenger partition, second-row tip seats with integrated seat backs, a three-passenger 60:40-split bench seat, a panoramic glass roof, a rear heater and rear controls, Bluetooth and a reverse camera for the driver, provisions for wheelchair access and position, plus 12V and USB chargers for passengers. The floor and seats are vinyl.
“The Mayor’s office and taxi drivers were very keen that we maintain the character of the Hackney Carriage, making it something that people in the city can be proud of,” said Nissan Design Europe design excellence manager Darryl Scriven.
“The main challenges were concerned with making sure customers can easily recognise it as a taxi. Being in London, we were able to go out and talk to cabbies about what was important to them as well as look at the vehicle from a customer’s viewpoint.”
Nissan isn’t new to the black cab world – its 2.7 litre TD27 diesel engine powered the FX4 ‘Fairway’ and TX1 cabs during the 1980s and 1990s, gaining a reputation for reliability and durability.
The Nissan NV200 Taxi for London is part of the company’s global taxi programme, which also includes New York, Barcelona and Tokyo.
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Seriously? They are replacing the iconic London cab with THIS? And they believe changing the headlights and grille is enough?
bro, where have you been? this was announced ages ago
just keep your mouth shut.
in malaysia, you dont have to bother with a redesign… just dump the meter, automatically its malaysian taxi
Maybe Proton could market their Proton Exora as London Taxi,….
I believe all taxis, no matter for city or airport use, should be using MPVs, like the Exora.
It’s so easy for ingress and egress, and carrying huge luggages.
bro; where have u been? the base NV200 platform can out 2 x Euro sized cargo Palette-try (widthxdepth and most importantly the height) that with other regular MPV such as Wish/Exora cannot.
There are inherent advantages to using the NV200 as a Taxi.
1) Low and Flat floor – passengers can get in easily and more room.
Nissan’s fleet marketing department must be doing a really bang u job getting their NV200 into so many markets.
Who would have thought they would beat out the Crown Vics in New York, and now the London Black Cabs.
Looks like a dog catcher van more than a taxi… maybe it is a pikachu catcher.
Our generation of Proton/Nissan taxis should be replaced with these purpose-built Taxis. In fact, this model should be made exclusively for taxi. This could help ward off potential robbers/rapist masquerading as taxi drivers.
Government, please consider this.
At least the Brits are smarter than Singaporeans
Using Sonata was the biggest mistake Singapore made
Sam Loo, have you been to Singapore lately? They don’t just have Sonata, they have Nissan, Toyota, Chevrolet, Mercedes and even Cadillac as taxis there. Not to mention several different MPVs.
Why do they have so many model of taxis there? Because they have CLEAN DIESEL. Get that for choices.
Sonata diesel cabs are still all over Singapore during Christmas
great! now it looks like a chinese knockoff
looks good… very british feel.. proton should rebadge this as well~!
Ugly!!The front fascia just cannot match with the rest of the body!
oohhh! check out fake taxi. this will be perfect for the shoot