Olympics - CallSign

Call Sign September 2012 Page 23
In a month where three new vehicles that
will abide by the Conditions of Fitness have
been touted as soon being ready to enter the
licensed taxi business (Metrocab Electric,
Nissan NV200 and Intelligent Energy’s
TX4H), as well as one which doesn’t -
although currently on sale throughout the rest
of the UK as a taxi (Allied Vehicles E7), there
has been some confusion as to which of the
currently available two – Mercedes Vito and
the London Taxi Company’s TX4 - actually
sells the most vehicles.
No sooner had news broke that Nissan’s
NV200 could happen in 2013, than
Mercedes issued a press release claiming to
be the only Euro five taxi available in
London. They had earlier claimed to be taking
40% of the London market – that figure
courtesy of the finance deal they introduced
earlier this year.
LTC would obviously argue that the Vito
claim is untrue, as the latest TX4 is also Euro
five and they also now have a deal where you
pay £135 a month with a £2k deposit and drive
away a new Euro five TX4.
The latest figures seen by Call Sign suggest
that LTC have clawed back a large percentage
of new cab sales courtesy of their
new deal. June sales certainly showed the
Vito as having their best month in comparison
to total London sales. Although just 88
taxis were registered as having been sold,
35 were Vitos and that represents 40% of
the total – the company’s best performance
so far as a direct comparison is concerned.
However, July sales told a slightly different
story. Total sales shot up by over 50% to a total
of 135 new taxis, but this time it was LTC who
captured the lion’s share selling 105 cabs
(78%) as against the Vito’s 30 (22%). Although
their advertising campaign hadn’t yet got into
full swing, we suspect that those enquiring
about a TX4 were offered the new deal and
their increased figures probably represents
TAXIS, TAXIS
EVERYWHERE!
I’ve heard of ‘it’s raining
men’ but raining
new cabs???
that.
When the three new cabs
finally appear – and Call
Sign’s experience suggests
that pre-publicity is some
way from actually seeing the
actual vehicle – we have to
wonder how the total number
of London sales will be
able to justify so many different
vehicles?
Some would say a situation
such as that could help
drive prices down, but looking
logically, a higher probability
is that some could
come and then go – leaving
drivers with taxis they can’t
sell – a situation that diesel
Metrocab owners found
themselves in when the
company folded in May
2006.
Certainly, taking the situation
as it seems, London will
soon see taxis, taxis everywhere!
Former Dial-a-Cab driver, Bob Woodford, writes a regular column for Call Sign from his home in
Languedoc, France and his taxi somewhere in London…
CALL SIGN EN LA BELLE FRANCE
The benefits of driving a car during the
Games – ORN use and free tickets!
I know the Olympics did not go down too well
for most cabbies and I had an idea that would
be the case, certainly for day men.
The Games Lanes embargo was always going
to be contentious, but when Boris announced
that day travel cards were to be issued free with
any lucky ticket purchasers via the ballot, then
that was all it needed to tell drivers that pushing
a cab around while the ‘greatest show on earth’
was taking place in E20, was going to be a
struggle!
Within days of the travel card announcement,
I happened to notice the ‘Drivers wanted during
Olympics’ feature in many of the cab trade
papers including Call Sign and I thought to
myself why not, let’s see what this is about! I
ended up working for an American Hospitality
Agency driving a mixture of BMW 7 Series,
Mercedes Vito’s and Hyundai i800s – taking VIPs
to events and finding tickets falling into my lap
for various events, including the opening ceremony
and the night Usain Bolt blitzed the
200m Final. We also saw David Rudisha smash
the 800m world record!
I must say I was surprised that the workforce
Bob and Brian
With (Y84)
and their
Olympic tickets
- all part
of their
driving job
of 170 odd drivers
was made
up of
Knowledge
boys or Yellow
Badge drivers –
not too many
of us ‘Greens’
thought it was
worth a go then? However, there was at least one
DaC driver in Brian With (Y84) and we copped
all those Olympic tickets! My first day in the job –
I couldn’t really count going to the Olympic events
as part of the job, even though it was - found me
sharing a changing room with veteran cab trade
scribe Al Fresco. And yes we both needed to
change our uniformed trousers on account of our
rapidly increasing waistlines!
My abiding memory from this work experience?
The sheer craziness of me driving home in my
Hyundai in an empty Games Lane – no VIP – just
me getting a clear run all the way from the
Dorchester Hotel to the A2, no traffic in front or
behind but a solid line of stationary vehicles on
the inside lane.
At a rare red light on Victoria Embankment, a
Dial-a-Cab subscriber that I recognised caught
sight of me, extended his right arm and shook his
wrist in disgust. I had to laugh at the sheer stupidity
of it all!
Joe Skeggs
I would like to record my feeling of sadness to
hear of the passing of Joe Skeggs. Joe and I
were in a team of 7 that completed the New
York Marathon in November 1994. Joe never
really liked running much at first, but the man
had the heart of a lion and helped our team raise
a healthy sum for the Children with Leukemia
charity.
I will never forget when Joe asked a Police
Officer on 5th Avenue if he could spare a ‘fag’ -
Skeggsie very nearly got arrested!
Rest in Peace Joe – Thanks for the memories...
Bob Woodford (Ex-P49)
Saint Genies de Fontedit, Languedoc, France