What's the news?

Nissan has revealed a new face for the London Taxi with its NV200 Taxi for London. Designed in London with input from Transport for London and the London Mayor's Office, the new taxi will go on sale in December 2014.

Since August 2012 Nissan has been selling the NV200 Taxi for London, having met the technical regulations governing the design of licenced Hackney Carriages. The next stage of development was to give the taxi a distinctive visual identity, resulting in the circular headlamps and trapezoidal grille intended to mirror the traditional 'face' of a black cab.

Unlike the majority of taxis the new NV200 won't be accompanied by the clatter of a diesel engine; power comes from a 1.6-litre petrol motor, coupled to an automatic gearbox. The new powertrain is said to be much cleaner with lower particulate and NOx emissions.

Nissan is also working on an electric taxi, the e-NV200, which it aims to have on the road by 2015 - five years ahead of the Mayor's target of having zero emissions taxis by 2020.

Anything else?

Nissan has been associated with London taxis since the 1980s when its diesel engine was adopted for the classic FX4 black cab. The company is also building taxis for cities around the world including Tokyo, Barcelona and replacing New York's iconic yellow taxis with a version of the NV200.

John Lambert - 7 Jan 2014