Geely set for control of London cab maker

Geely, China's largest privately owned car maker, is also in talks to buy Ford's Swedish unit Volvo -- another of Europe's venerable motoring names.

Manganese Bronze said Wednesday it was considering a placing of new shares with 20 percent shareholder Geely at 70 pence per share to give the group a controlling stake, and announced plans to shift production of bodies and chassis for the TX4 from its Coventry plant to Shanghai.

The company said the share placing would give Geely at least a 51 percent stake in the group, which had a market capitalisation Wednesday of just under 26 million pounds.

"This is a bit of a turning point for us," Manganese Bronze's chief executive John Russell told Reuters after the group reported a pretax loss in 2009 of 7.3 million pounds.

"Seeing the immediate benefits of our relationship with Geely coming through in the TX4 we are now at a point where we can think about building a closer relationship with our Chinese partner."

Hong Kong-listed Geely Autombile has not made a decision on whether to increase its stake in Manganese Bronze yet, a company executive told Reuters.

CAB WARS

The black cabs that Manganese is now making in China are traditionally associated with London, where licensed drivers must pass a test known as 'the knowledge' to show they know all the roads, landmarks and places of interest within a six-mile radius of Charing Cross station.

Competition in the market, once controlled by Manganese's TX series of vehicles, has heated up over the last 18 months with the entry of the Mercedes Vito model, distributed by Eco City Vehicles.