Geely Plans London Taxi Factory in U.K.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. will build a 250 million (€342 million) factory in Coventry, England, to make a next-generation version of the icon London taxi, Automotive News China reports.

The complex will include manufacturing and R&D facilities on an 85,000-sq-m site. About 1,000 employees will make as many as 36,000 taxis there per year. Geely says the new car will enter the British market at the end of 2017 and elsewhere in 2018.

The new factory will have 10 times the capacity of London Taxi's current facility.

Geely acquired a 20% stake in Manganese Bronze Holdings plc, whose London Taxi Co. unit makes the black taxis, in 2006. The Chinese company took control of the business out of administration seven years later.

Analysts blamed the taxi maker's collapse on poor quality, outdated engineering and the cost of a recall to fix defective steering systems imported from China.