London black cab maker plans European expansion

By Costas Pitas

LONDON (Reuters) - The London Taxi Company, maker of the British capital's distinctive black cabs, plans to ramp up production by the end of the decade and sell taxis and vans to other major European cities, its chairman said.

The company, owned by Chinese automaker Geely , is building a new plant close to its existing factory in Coventry, central England, and said Britain's decision to leave the European Union would not affect its current investment plans.

Chairman Carl-Peter Forster said the company aimed to produce around 10,000 cabs and light commercial vehicles a year by about 2020, up from 1,171 in 2015.

"We are currently presenting the taxi to major European cities. We've been to Oslo, Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin this week and based on this same platform ... we will offer this light commercial vehicle," he told reporters.

"2019/20/21 that is our horizon."

The London Taxi Company, which traces its roots back to 1899 and was bought out of administration by Geely in 2013, said in March last year it would invest 250 million pounds in its new site. In October, it said it would add another 50 million pounds to the project.

Forster said future investments would depend on the new relationship Britain forges with the EU, but that decisions would not need to be made until at least 2018.

"We don't have to make a decision over the next two to three years. By then we will know exactly what the regulatory framework is and the customs and duties framework and then we can make a decision," he said.

(Editing by Mark Potter)