Black cabs maker fights bankruptcy

London’s black cabs, built to the same design for 54 years, are following iconic red phone boxes and Routemaster buses towards extinction as their manufacturer fights bankruptcy.

Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC, which has made taxis in Coventry, England, since 1948, entered administration last month after a Chinese tie-up failed to yield savings, and 400 of its cabs, the TX4 model, were recalled with steering faults.

Ready to take over the market are the Mercedes-Benz Vito and Nissan Motor Co’s NV200. Based on commercial vans, the models could end five decades in which the black cab has become known to millions from films, books, postcards, and a star turn in the 2012 Olympics.