Taxi Driver Online

Right you lot seem to have missed a very important point here and that is that the reason the chinese got involved with manganese bronze in the first place is that they see a very good worldwide future market. Predictions of the demise of Manganese Bronze is very premature look at the Rover saga the chinese waited until they had enough leverage and then swallowed up the company within 12 months manganese bronze will probably be chinese owned and within 3 years they will be an import from china

The chinese are very good at adapting so if the "need" for the TX4 dissapears I'm sure its successor will be a chinese version of the specifications being produced

There are many that only allow LTI and Metrocab vehicles, and when was the last time anyone bought a new Metrocab?

I suppose the Merc might help some of those councils out, but no way can they meet demand. Well at least not in the short term.

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IDFIMH

How do you manage to talk so much bo##ocks. If you were thick JD your comments could be understood, but you clearly are not. So my original point of vested interest/sinister agenda applies.

First; if a council is going to apply a rule of manufacturer viability before it licences it then Saab, GM, Chrysler and very soon Toyota, Nissan, Ford and the like will be also vetoed. There is not a motor dealer who is currently solvent. Most of the above are insolvent. So not likely to happen

Also, you conveniently forget that the government introduced COF and LTI invested millions building a cab to match them (along with several other companies who eventually went bust) Anyone can build a cab that matches the current conditions of fitness they (arrogantly) just choose not to. They would rather lower the conditions of entry into the market. Let me give you an example of what the converters are wanting - It would be like all this years released ex-convicts complaining that they cannot get jobs as taxi drivers because the standards that the government set (ie not being a murdering, thieving paedophile) are too high for entry. If the government decided to address the issue of prisoner re-offending by rewriting (read lowering) hackney/PH badge requirements you would be up in arms screaming "standards" Why do you support converters who put their profitability come before meeting legislation. It's the same thing

So JD/Sussex/Skippy why don't you stop pandering to the galleries because you think you can influence the odd licensing officer who may be reading this site and support purpose built WAV's that help the public know what is and is not a taxi, council's who have managed growth hackney policies and unified trade representation.

LTI maybe in the sh#t but so are all vehicle manufacturers along with clothes retailers, banks, insurers (AIG, AVIVA etc), pubs, clubs, football teams and the odd local council

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If you find yourself in a confusing situation, simply laugh knowingly and walk away

FFS someone left the loony bin door open again
Rev, could you go into a bank and get £35k like that, or get the finance for basically a heap of sheite all because some @ss wipe says you have to,.in today's climate
get real Rev taxi owners who have these vehicles are starting to go under on a daily basis as they cannot afford to run them no more, and in the areas that do insist on them more and more are turning to PH to keep costs down

You cant beat the what about me mentality

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I will pander to who I like.

That said, I'm of the opinion that drivers should choose what vehicle best suits them, subject to reasonable conditions.

Clearly you are of the opinion that drivers are too thick to decide for themselves, and the rest of the world's taxi drivers are thick as sh** as well, cos they think the turning circle is a pointless joke.

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IDFIMH

Depends what you call reasonable conditions

And whether the turning circle is pointless or not will vary on where you work I suppose but the point is, it was a condition that LTI met. Whether a taxi driver is as thick as sh#t depends on whether he thinks the converters choose not to build a cab to the current cof for his/her benefit and not their own convenience

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If you find yourself in a confusing situation, simply laugh knowingly and walk away

Which part do you find bo!!ocks and why? your explanation would no doubt be most interesting.



It would appear everyone bar you understands my comments but if you really do fail to understand them then I would be concerned that people might start to form the opinion that you're not very bright?



Commenting on the failings and future prospects of a taxi manufacturer is hardly having an agenda. Manganese Bronze are architects of their own destiny no matter where that destiny might lead? Everything I have ever said about Manganese Bronze has been correct and whats more I shall continue to offer an opinion on the company regardless of their performance or status?



Did they? You sure about that?

I'm afraid the rest of your post is not worthy of comment

By the way, I originally stated LTI could be bust by the end of the year, I revise that statement and suggest it might very well be sooner.

I suspect you might not know the answer to this question but in order to secure the continuation of the 2.5 million pound overdraft until Dec, what assets were Manganese Bronze required to sign over to HSBC?

Considering the assets of Manganese Bronze are limited HSBC could be the proud owners of a large portion of their property portfolio, come December. That should be interesting.

Regards

JD

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Bo##ocks = the turning circle doesn't apply to one vehicle Just that other manufacturers decide not to build to the required spec

Live in dreams JD, you sycophants might say they understand you but all they understand is your stance against cof, wav's, regulated councils and LTI and all for their small minded reasons

Predicting the demise of Mang Bronze is a bit like my Grandad predicting the end of Woolies after the fire in the 70's - one day he was eventually right by default

What property portfolio are you talking about They will have secured an overdraft deal based on projected business developments just like every other company who have approached the bank this year. You keep making out that LTI are some kind of special case; they're not. They are a company in the sh#t like a lot of other companies

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If you find yourself in a confusing situation, simply laugh knowingly and walk away

The turning circle is an anacronism. The ability to perform a pointless and often dangerous maneuver. The required spec was laid down for no other reason than to protect London's "iconic" taxis from serious competition.

If LTI do go bust and public funds aren't used to bail them out, the PCO will drop the turning circle requirement like a hot potato.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

Sorry Gusmac but will you people get a grip!! The turning circle was created and LTI along with 3 or 4 other manufacturers designed a vehicle to meet the spec. The turning circle may be outdated (but the boys in London might give you an argument) but it was not created by LTI. It is now used to protect them I have no doubt, but they still built a cab to the spec laid down. The converters refuse to do that but they want access to the market regardless, hence my ex-con scenario. They are no different to the p/h pirate scum (not law abiding p/h's) who want the income without the investment

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If you find yourself in a confusing situation, simply laugh knowingly and walk away

Sorry Jim, you're the one who needs to get a grip!! The turning circle spec is more than just outdated, it is meaningless, pointless bollux.
Useful on a forklift maybe, but an uneccessary burden on a taxi producer. It just stifles competition and protects an "icon".
It is, as you rightly said, still with us for the protection of LTI and for no other reason.
The market isn't large enough for more than one or maybe two low volume producers to make money out of it.
None of the large manufacturers are even interested.
The price is very high for those with no choice but to comply.
If these vehicles were even close to being worth the capital investment, cabbies all over the country would buy them in droves - without being compelled to by means of some pointless council diktat.
Fact is these things do not sell well anywhere, except where they are demanded by the LA.

As for an "icon", they will soon be as iconic as egg foo yung.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

The comments of an imbecile.

Over the years, myself and others have had the pleasure of correcting many factually incorrect comments.

From the rubbish you have posted so far it would appear you wish to be remembered on this site as a fool of the highest order who has a serious problem with facts and is incapable of reasoned argument.

I suggest you go and research Government involvement in the conditions of fitness and when you have availed yourself of the facts you can come back and correct your factually incorrect comments. While you are at it you might wish to avail yourself of the facts surrounding the continuation of the 2.5m pound overdraft to manganese bronze from HSBC.

There are countless threads on LTI on this website so I suggest you indulge yourself on those, it will undoubtedly save us all a great deal of repetition and time responding to the comments of a clown.

If you prefer instead to talk about your obvious inadequacies then some people might oblige but certainly not me.

Regards

JD

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Doesn't matter how many vehicles have the U-turn axle, it's something the world has rejected, so why force it on everyone?

If you want to blow your money then great, but don't for a second believe you speak for anyone bar a few loonies.

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IDFIMH

I would have posted this the other day if it wasn't for our ecclesiastical friend but I held back because I wanted to see his reaction to my question regarding HSBC's insistance of "secured assets in exchange for a continued overdraft facility". The reverend was somewhat predictable in his response, which turned out to be an uneducated self inflicted denial of the facts. Those facts are as follows,

Manganese Bronze Scrapped Dividend To Win Pension Fund Backing

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC (MNGS.LN), the maker of the iconic London taxi, Thursday said it scrapped its dividend to win the backing of its retirement fund trustees and the U.K.'s powerful Pensions Regulator for new overdraft arrangements.

The company said it won't pay a final dividend for 2008 because the trustees of its pension scheme and the regulator said they'd only agree to a new deal with bank HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBA.LN) if it stopped shareholder payments.

HSBC said it would extend Manganese's GBP2.5 million overdraft to Dec. 31 provided it got company assets as security. A property and a lease on a property were the securities given.

Chief Executive John Russell told Dow Jones Newswires the trustees and the regulator wanted to ensure the pension fund's ability to meet its obligations wouldn't be damaged by granting the security, as it has a claim to the assets too.

"They were doing their job and are very supportive of what we are doing, but they felt there shouldn't be a further deterioration in the cash position by giving out a dividend," Russell said.

Russell added the board probably wouldn't have approved a payment anyway given current poor trading. The firm will restart payment as soon as possible, he said.
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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.