Nissan NV200 selected as New York City’s taxi provider

New York is “hailing” a new era of urban mobility today, as the city with the United States’ largest taxi fleet has selected Nissan to design and supply the next-generation “Taxi of Tomorrow.”
 
The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) selected the Nissan NV200 as the exclusive taxi of New York City beginning in late 2013.. The competition built upon more than a century of taxi industry heritage to drive the design and creation of a purpose-built vehicle, tuned to the city’s streets.
 
“Nissan is proud to provide the next generation of taxis for the City of New York,” said Nissan Americas Chairman Carlos Tavares..  “The NV200 taxi will give Nissan the opportunity to showcase our dedication to vehicle quality and urban mobility to more than 600,000 passengers every day.”
 
The Nissan NV200 taxi will be produced at Nissan’s facility in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The Nissan NV200 taxi will be a modified version of the compact commercial vehicle currently available in global markets including the UK.
 
As part of the program, Nissan also will work with the City and taxi owners on a pilot programme to study the use of zero-emission, electric vehicles as taxis.  Nissan will provide up to six 100-percent electric Nissan LEAFs to taxi owners for testing in 2012 as well as the charging stations to support their use.
 
"The city's Taxi of Tomorrow is the Nissan NV 200 - and it's going to be the safest, most comfortable and most convenient cab the city has ever had," said Mayor Bloomberg. "We started this process to leverage our taxi industry's purchasing power to get the highest quality taxi, one that that can expand and redefine the legendary image of New York City taxicabs. The new taxis will be custom-designed to meet the specific demands of carrying 600,000 passengers a day in New York City traffic and the vehicle meets the top priorities identified by the public in our on-line survey."
 
With more than 13,000 taxis traveling a cumulative 500 million miles per year, durability was a key factor in the “Taxi of Tomorrow” selection process.  Nissan will train taxi fleet operators to conduct routine in-house service and repairs, and Nissan Commercial Vehicle dealers will provide prompt service by providing the first available service bay to taxi operators needing service.