What made last year’s London Olympics so successful?
Was it
- The athletes in their prime?
- The crowds?
- The national pride?
No chance.
It was the capital’s iconic black cabs, according to the Chinese company that now makes them.
Even though LOCOG, TfL, Seb Coe, Peter Hendy, Leon Daniels and Boris Johnson all decided to sideline the London Taxi trade by banning us from the Olympic Lanes, hiding our ranks away from the crowds at Olympic venues and used substandard transport for athletes and officials......visiting dignitaries were still impressed at the fantastic service they received from the best Taxi service in the world.
When the Mayor of Nanjing visited London during the Games with Chinese officials, he was so impressed with the taxis that he wanted them on the streets of his city when it hosts the Youth Olympic Games next year.
“The taxis gave them a very good impression, not just the product but also the service,” said James Lin, the general manager of the Shanghai London Taxi Company, which is owned by Geely.
“They thought they could copy the successful example of London for their city. They think our product could help them hold a successful Games.”
Geely has now agreed an 80m yuan (£8.4m) deal with Nanjing, home to 7m people, for 500 cabs.
It is the largest Chinese taxi order signed by Geely since it bought British company Manganese Bronze out of bankruptcy last year. That move secured 107 jobs at Manganese, which still makes the black cabs at its headquarters in Coventry.
“In the past we just focused on the UK market,” said Mr Lin. “After the Geely takeover, we did not just focus on traditional areas but also the China market and the global market.”
The Nanjing cabs will be made in Shanghai but Geely often flies in engineers from the UK to oversee large orders in order to protect the essence of the brand.