Up to 1,000 new jobs are set to be created in the taxi industry in the coming years, after it was announced that a new £250 million factory is to be built on the outskirts of Coventry. The investment has been made by Chinese manufacturer Geely, owners of the London Taxi Company (LTC), who are the producers of the iconic London black cab.

The new plant is aiming to be opened in 2017, and it’s predicted to make a big contribution to the demands of London Mayor Boris Johnson who is aiming for all new taxis operating in the capital to be capable of zero emissions by 2018. The factory will include research and development facilities as well as an assembly plant to build the next generation of electric and low-emission vehicles, and is said to be the biggest ever investment of its type by a Chinese company in the UK.

After falling into administration in 2012, LTC was acquired by Geely in 2013 who have already made an £80 million investment into the new TX5 hybrid taxi, but now plan to launch an electric version in 2018. The new factory is hoping to increase LTC production from just under 2,000 cars a year to a a huge 36,000.