An icon of the New York urban landscape is due for the chop. The Ford Crown Victoria with its 14mpg is set to be replaced with a variant of Nissan’s global van the Nissan NV200.
The contract is set to last for ten years, starting in 2013 and will cover over 13,000 yellow cabs. Beating the Ford Connect to the post at the last hurdle, the NV200, which is closer to Noddy’s taxi than macho New York taxi will become a common sight on the streets of the Big Apple.
New York taxis, which carry an roughly 600,000 passengers a day, are owned by private operators, who have to buy their taxis from a list of models approved by the Taxi and Limousine Commission. The current fleet is expected to be phased out over three to five years once the NV200 becomes available. Cab owners will be allowed to buy other models until then.
The Nissan NV200 will have passenger airbags and a panoramic roof, so tourists get to see the skyline towering above them plus charging points for laptops and phones.
The final three contenders all played the accessibility card – no traditional cars were in the shortlist. Nissan will build the basic NV200 in Mexico, but add many of the features required for taxi use in the New York area. The company hopes that it will help them to gain a foothold in the US market for commercial vehicles.
In recent years, the Mercedes-Benz Vito has made inroads into the London taxi market with their rear wheel steer taxi conversion. Turning circle requirements of London Taxis usually preclude minibus and MPV makers from making the grade. Maybe the Nissan NV200 Noddy taxi will make its way to London as well?
