Black cab manufacturer Manganese Bronze fared better on the financial front last year as sales of its distinctive London taxis picked up. The group, which builds the vehicles at a factory in Coventry, said volumes picked up in the year to July 31. Overall, sales registered by cabs subsidiary London Taxis International rose by 7.5 per cent to 2,494 from 2,320 the year before. The performance was helped by a shipment of nearly 200 cabs to the US, a new market for LTI. "They are being used in cities from Los Angeles to Boston, with Las Vegas in between," said Manganese Bronze chief executive Ian Pickering. The extra engineering needed to make the cabs compliant with the stricter US emission and crash test regulations makes them relatively expensive, but initial driver and passenger reactions have been encouraging. Sales are already suffering from the strong pound/weak dollar and future progress in the US is likely to hinge on whether a licence and distribution that LTI has signed with a partner company in Mexico develops into manufacturing for export into other countries in the North America Free Trade Agreement club. Talks are under way with a partner in China with a view to introducing London-style taxis into the world's fastest-growing automotive market. Back in the UK, even though taxi journeys in London have bounced back from the slump caused by the stock market slump and the decline in tourism, recovery has been somewhat muted as cabbies defer buying new vehicles until the latest review of emissions and turning circle requirements laid down by regulator the Public Carriage Office. The capital accounts for 55 per cent of LTI's sales and Mr Pickering was yesterday confident that existing models would meet the PCO's demands. LTI has also been affected by lingering concerns over the reliability of the latest incarnation of the London taxi, the TX11. Provision for warranty costs had to be increased during the year from £2.5 million to £3.4 million as claims came in against two- and three-year old vehicles. "A number of teething problems were experienced when the TXII was introduced in January 2002," Mr Pickering said. " These problems were quickly rectified during 2002 although it has taken some time for the new model to gain the reputation for reliability enjoyed by the TXI." The full year pre-tax loss was "significantly reduced", thanks in part to the 7.5 per cent rise in taxi sales and a £4.7 million gain from property disposals which included part of the Coventry site. The group ended last year £1.2 million in the red compared with the previous year's £10.2 million deficit. Turnover from continuing operations rose by one per cent o £86.7 million and the final dividend is held at 2p per share. Losses incurred by Zingo, an innovative mobile phone-based taxi-hailing service, deepened to £ 4 . 1 million ( from £3.3 million) and the accounts include a £2.6 million write down of assets. Zingo is proving popular with passengers but take up by London cabbies has not kept pace with demand. | 
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