VPG taxis still being made?

Saw a taxi from this place. (was not being used as taxi or if it was , there were no markings on it. ) I guess they are still being made?

Vehicle Production Group - Wikipedia

I saw the first one maybe two years ago, got curious, looked up the info. It seems to be caught between financing/parent makers and every time the production line starts, something else goes wrong.

According to your own wikipedia link, they resumed production in 2014 after being purchased by AM General.

Their web page has a schedule of 2015 shows, so it looks like they are currently in production and selling vehicles.

http://mv-1.us/

I’m curious, there are wheelchair accessible taxicabs all over the United States, what makes this specific model unique or special?

It’s a descendant of all the other models built exclusively for the demands of taxi service - the Austin 7 (?), the Checker, and to a degree, the Crown Vic.

It’s meant to be as durable as its predecessors while accommodating the 21st century, things like easy access for the disabled included.

The only suitable platform among standard production vehicles are minivans, and there isn’t a one made that’s up to the rigors of taxi duty. They get beaten to death within a few years at most.

I assume Ford , GM and Chrysler don’t think it’s viable for them to make a taxi vehicle?

How long are these supposed to last as taxis? With the mileage that goes on taxis, could any taxi last more than a few years? The one big advantage I can see over a retrofitted Grand Caravan or the like is that it appears the MV-1 can accommodate two full size wheelchairs. From the vehicle owner’s point of view though, I’d have to engage in some serious analysis of the cost of an MV-1 versus the increased revenue, not to mention the maintenance costs, planned life cycle, etc.

I’m not sure I’m convinced that these will remain in production much longer.

It’s my understanding that they were designed from the ground up to be wheelchair accessible taxis, where other vehicles took existing designs and modified them. Theoretically, since this one is purpose-built, it should be better for the job than something that was modified. I don’t know enough about them to know if that’s true or not.

A modified Caravan, for example, may be able to do the job, but maybe its floor isn’t as low to the ground and requires a longer or steeper ramp, and even though you can fit a wheelchair into a caravan, there may be a lot of wasted space when you do so, plus the caravan’s suspension wasn’t built for city taxi style driving and may wear out prematurely, etc.

I’m not either. Low volume production brings its own set of problems, especially with respect to economies of scale.

A bit OMA, but I recall that Checkers could hit 300k or more, 500k with better maintenance and replacement of major parts from time to time. Crown Vics are good for 200k in Manhattan.

The great majority of taxis built on other platforms - minivan, small SUV, hybrids, Prius - need much higher maintenance and frequent replacement items to get over 100k, at which point major components are too shot to bother with any more.

With the Crown Vic gone, there are no more heavy-duty passenger/cruiser vehicles. Police departments are adapting, probably for the better, but unless we’re going to get rid of cabs, something like this purpose-built box is going to have a market. (Too bad they are so ugly they make Azteks look like a Ferrari offering…)