Nissan wins NYC taxi contract

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Originally Posted By: Trav
Do the words bribery,payoff,kickback come to mind?
+1


I agree with this..There really needs to be a investigation on how the Nissan was picked..Something does not sound Kosher to me..I really think it should have been given to Ford but if not at least one of the other big 3..It would have been the right thing to do..Just IMHO.

As soon as people walk outside at the airport they are going have to get into a ugly old fashioned delivery van..I do not see why they did not pick the Escape Hybrid as that was working well for them since 2005..I was in NYC not long ago and drivers loved the Escape Hybrid as they have zero issues with them.

Most people spend less then 30 minutes in a cab in NYC..The Escape is comfy enough.
 
If you ignore the 4-cyl part, the price seems extremely competitive as far as the feature list is concerned.
 
Quote:
The distinctive Checker cabs were, due to their durable construction, phased out slowly, the last one being retired in July 1999, being over 20 years in service and nearly one million miles on its odometer. Laws since 1996 require taxis be replaced every 6 years regardless of condition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_New_York_City

Every six years? The fact that the city is deciding what cars these companies must use is amazing.

And having a guaranteed market every six years explains why so many companies wanted in.
 
Well, contrary to an earlier article, it looks like the good folks in Mississippi won't be building this.

"Nissan said that the NV200 taxi will be built at the company’s facility in Cuernavaca, Mexico and will be a modified version of the compact commercial vehicle. Total manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) of the Nissan NV200 taxi will be around $29,000."
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
If you ignore the 4-cyl part, the price seems extremely competitive as far as the feature list is concerned.


It'll save gas and keep the drivers from driving like yahoos. OK with me.
 
Originally Posted By: Tempest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_New_York_City

Every six years? The fact that the city is deciding what cars these companies must use is amazing.

And having a guaranteed market every six years explains why so many companies wanted in.


Get used to it, most places on earth have "approved" list of vehicles that can be used as taxi.

Standardization of minimum quality (6 year old car) keeps the standard high enough so they will not be using something that wouldn't work.

Imagine you ask your hotel to haul you a cab, and a Geo Metro show up not fitting more than 2 passengers with no luggage space when you are in a hurry to the airport. Then other cabbie found out they can save a lot of $ by cheap out their ride and now cabs got a bad rep of being too small and won't fit, and no one decide to haul a cab even if there are plenty of large ones around.

Don't laugh, I've seen it in some 3rd world country. Sending you a cab that won't fit all the people and you are out of time to haul another one.

A new vehicle every 6 years is nothing compare to the cost of the taxi medallion.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Yay, jobs for America!

Wait a minute...........


The Ford Transit Connect is made in Turkey isn't it?
 
Therein lies the fallacy with assuming anything made by the big 3 these days is actually made in the USA and doing anything for jobs there. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. My car bears a Japanese logo but was built right here in Canada and is more 'domestic' in that sense than something built in Mexico. Or Turkey.

And even though Mexico is part of North America, their economy and what not is so far removed from our own that I can't equate Made in Mexico with Made in the USA or Made in Canada (the latter two are pretty much interchangeable for me as a consumer).

-Spyder
 
Not an allegation but phrased as a question.
Personally i cant believe a major American city is awarding a Japanese company a contract when U.S. manufacturers have had such a bad time without some back door incentives to someone,that's my personal opinion.
Its not like American manufactures cant build a car that meets the required specs and then some all day long.

Even if the Japanese car is built here the profits go right back to Japan and i don't think its the right kind of statement being made.
The country is in bad times and what does the city of NY do? Send a billion dollars worth of business to the Japanese.IMHO That's darn near criminal.
 
So you want the city to also dictate that it has to be built in the US? Don't forget that the big 3 have many models that are built outside the US or have high foreign content and there are many foreign cars that are built in the US.
 
A tangent is it seems impossible for the big three to have a platform or transmission or engine that isn't shared across a half dozen models. This did in the caprice and camaro, is doing in the crown vic, and explains the ford taurus/edge/explorer (and probably some lincolns) that are all the same underneath. It's like, if they can't make ten million of them, and then something else without resetting the width of the assembly line, why bother? They want the mass market side of the curve. Maybe they don't feel a need to impress someone who rides for ten minutes in the back seat.

The Transit Connect is a miracle, an odd thing, and gives a few jobs stateside dodging the "chicken tax."

FWIW the London cabs have diesel engines from Nissan since 1989, replacing Rover ones. Bet they had a scuffle when that went down, too. Fx4
 
Originally Posted By: odie
This may be part of the plan with NISSAN . We seen this on MOTORWEEK . Battery swap stations for electric taxis . http://www.mpt.org/motorweek/overtheedge3030.shtml .


Yeah, I read somewhere that electric engines can be swapped into the nv200 in the future. The battery stations would make electric taxis practical. Maybe someday electric cars can go further than what the Leaf does right now.
 
Quote:
FWIW the London cabs have diesel engines from Nissan since 1989, replacing Rover ones. Bet they had a scuffle when that went down, too. Fx4


I believe the brand new ones the TX4 use an Italian built engine.The company that builds these cars is English as it should be with the profits even with a Nissan engine going to an English company.

To some other posters comments:

NY like London,Berlin,Rome,Tokyo,Paris etc is a world city,people expect it to be very representative of everything American.The yellow sedan cabs are a world renowned icon as is the London black cab or the crème coloured Berlin Mercedes cabs.
I guess foreign visitors will now get to sit in a Nissan as their first NY experience.IMO its a very sad thing.
 
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Yay, jobs for America!

Wait a minute...........


The Ford Transit Connect is made in Turkey isn't it?


At the present time yes, but one of the articles (if you can believe what you read) said Ford was going to start building them in MI.

Time will tell how smart the powers to be in NYC are.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

N
  • Locked
‘Wow, What Is That?’ Navy Pilots Report Unexplained Flying Objects
Replies
5
Views
3K
MolaKule
OVERKILL
  • Locked
Why Japan has no CANDU's
Replies
18
Views
4K
OVERKILL
O
  • Locked
American manufacturing
2 3 4
Replies
64
Views
26K
PandaBear
H
  • Locked
Union Looks to Recover Concessions From Ford
2 3
Replies
51
Views
24K
1001hobbies
dave1251
  • Locked
Exxon Mobil
Replies
19
Views
16K
MolaKule
Back
Top Bottom