China's Geely opens UK plant for electric London taxis

Chinese carmaker Geely, owner of the London Taxi Company, opened Wednesday a £300-million UK factory making only electrical versions of the iconic London black cab for use worldwide.

The site in Coventry, central England, "has the capacity to build more than 20,000 vehicles per year... the best ultra-low emission commercial vehicles in the world", LTC said in a statement.

Geely bought LTC four years ago after the British company found itself in serious financial difficulty. Geely owns Volvo and said it will use the Swedish carmaker's technologies and components in its new taxis.

"Today marks the rebirth of the London Taxi Company," said LTC chief executive Chris Gubbey after the creation of more than 1,000 new jobs linked to the plant's opening. 

LTC chairman Carl-Peter Forster added that the plant is "the first brand new automotive manufacturing facility in Britain for over a decade, the first dedicated electric vehicle factory in the UK and the first major Chinese investment in UK automotive".

As well as a £300-million ($374-million, 346 million-euros) investment from LTC, the plant has been supported by £16.1 million from the British government.