After nearly a decade of planning, the first Shanghai-made London taxis finally hit the streets in Hong Kong as part of the Grand Hyatt's private fleet. But their distributor is revving up to give Toyota a run for the money in the commercial taxi market.
'Toyota has a monopoly on the taxi market but there should be an alternative,' said Eric Wong, the chairman of Richburg Motors. 'What better second choice for Hong Kong taxis than the London taxi?'
Toyota's LPG-fuelled Crown cars, exclusively distributed by Crown Motors, account for 99 per cent of the fleet of 18,138 taxis.
Richburg, a parallel importer of several Japanese brands, is the exclusive Hong Kong and Macau dealer for the mainland-made London black taxis. The taxis were put into commercial production in Shanghai in small volumes last year by a mainland-controlled partnership between Zhejiang-based Geely Automobile Holdings and London-listed Manganese Bronze Holdings.
Richburg has worked with Geely to launch an LPG-powered version of the black taxi that Wong hopes can take a run at Toyota's Crown in the local taxi market, pending approval from the Transport Department.
The London taxi retails as a private car for HK$298,000, including first registration tax and about HK$90,000 in import duties. Wong thinks the price could drop to HK$200,000 for bulk purchases, if the model is approved by the government for use as a public vehicle.