London Taxi maker Manganese Bronze bought by China’s Geely

China automotive giant Geely has bought Manganese Bronze – makers of the iconic London Black Cab – in an £11.04 million deal. The iconic London Black Cab has been an accident waiting to happen for years, as under investment in making the Black Cab fit for the 21st century saw competition – like the Mercedes Vito Taxi and the Nissan NV200 Cab – start to offer serious competition to the taxi that identifies London. Despite an investment by China’s Geely – when Geely bought 20 per cent of Manganese Bronze, makers of the Black Cab – and the bulk of the Black Cab being produced in China and bolted together in the Midlands, the final nail in the coffin for Manganese Bronze was the recall of 400 TX4 cabs over a steering fault.

GM says natural-gas Chevrolet Impala on the way

General Motors said it will sell a version of the Chevrolet Impala sedan with the ability to switch between gasoline and natural gas, part of the automaker's plan for taking advantage of a U.S. drilling boom that has made natural gas a more viable fuel for cars. The dual-fuel Impala, to be announced today by CEO Dan Akerson at a conference here, will have one engine and two fuel tanks -- one for gasoline and one for compressed natural gas.

TVR sale latest

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 08 February 2007 04:17 More than 30 parties have expressed an interest in buying the remnants of TVR, the sports car maker which crashed into administration over Christmas - and the factory could move to Asia. Administrator PKF (UK) LLP has spent the past month clarifying the assets of Blackpool Automotive Ltd, the company that ran the Blackpool factory, and it in fact holds several trump cards that could prevent the Russian owner switching production overseas. The sale advert in the Financial Times reveals that Blackpool Automotive controls the TVR trademark in Europe and the US, as well as all the intellectual property rights and tooling for the sports cars.