Nissan NV200 Wins NYC "Taxi Of Tomorrow" Contract

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Nissan’s NV200-based entrant into New York City’s Taxi of Tomorrow contest has won the contract (reportedly worth over a billion dollars), reports Reuters, beating out two other finalists, one based on Ford’s Transit Connect, the other from Turkey’s Karsan Otomotiv. The decision may be taking a few New Yorkers by surprise, as Reuters reports that the Turkish entrant’s clear glass ceiling made it a crowd favorite, and that

Karsan also hoped to gain favour with city officials by promising to assemble the cars in Brooklyn, vowing to use union labour. The plant would have marked a return of auto-making to the city for first time in about a century.

Though New Yorkers may have preferred a locally-built model to take over from the 16 vehicles currently serving as NYC Taxis, the NV200 seems like a sweet little van. So congratulations, Nissan… now, are we ready to start talking about a civilian version?

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Ion Ion on May 03, 2011

    Are we told why the Nissan won? As a New Yorkey I'm extremely disapointed the Turkish company lost. Karsan was going to bring over 800 jobs to NYC, which as a mechanic could've potentially meant a better job for me. Creating jobs or making life easier for the lower and middle class NY'er just doesn't matter to Emperor Bloomberg these days

  • Taxman100 Taxman100 on May 03, 2011

    Yeah - a short school bus/cargo van for everyone! Looks like a delivery truck.

  • Kristjan Ambroz Kristjan Ambroz on May 06, 2011

    Actually, the London Cab (TX4 or its earlier iterations) might be a wonder of space efficiency but a great model of passenger comfort it is certainly not. The suspension is more pliable on most commercial vehicles, probably an ox-cart rides better - combined with the less than smooth London roads longer journeys are a pain. The new Mercedes Vans, which are a possible alernative may not look as iconic but in terms of passenger comfort they are several decades more advanced. Apart from the tight turning circle and space for 5 pax, you most certainly do not want the TX4 as a model cab for NY.

  • Armadamaster Armadamaster on May 06, 2011

    Wonder if Ford's figured out what a bad idea it was to not invest in the Panther for the last decade yet.

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