It is also very economical in heavy town traffic. As that is exactly what its design brief was. Low emissions and good MPH - a town car for the US. So it happens to be fairly ideal as a mini-cab in London. Probably horrifies Toyota, as this will put off private and company new sales. After all not even the paper clip salesman of the month wants others to think he's a mini-cab driver.
As a get out, Uber could have future UK employment contracts with its drivers agreed by its HQ in the Netherlands.
That could keep the lawyers busy working out who has what rights, where they apply and under which jurisdiction.
So what do they use mostly, in your world? I have taken many taxis in mainland Europe, and they have predominantly been Mercedes. One old one in Portugal had a growl coming from its rear axle, but when I saw that it had nearly 900,000km on its odometer, I forgave it.
According to this article they use all sorts of cars for taxis in Australia including the Prius.
"Most taxis in Australia are now the Ford Falcon, Holden Commodore or Toyota Camry with most using LPG fuel.
More recently, the Chrysler 300C turbo diesel and BMW 5-series diesel have been introduced to replace the phased out Fairlane.
The Toyota Prius is also used in metropolitan areas."
I'd guess Tuc-tucs. Don't let the bit about Oz fool you.
I've seen BMW used as proper taxis too - although as you say Mercs were certainly at one time the most common. But often not a version you could buy in the UK. Perhaps a smaller diesel, and very poverty spec trim.
Smaller as in engine? Standard in lots of places was a Merc E class - but yes, the trim wasn't as posh.
I'm not going to claim to be well up with current specs, but do remember seeing a 5 Series BMW taxi in Spain which had a four cylinder diesel not available in the UK.
I don't keep up with Mercedes specs., but I remember being impressed that the last taxi I used in Portugal, in late 2001, was a brand new Diesel Merc. with a 6-speed gearbox, which was, to me, quite advanced for the time in a taxi. Like all traffic, it's well-dressed, neatly beard-trimmed driver totally disregarded the Autostrada speed limit of 120 kph on the way into Lisbon, 160 kph (100mph) being just a number passed on the way to cruising speed.
the rights to FoM recognise the concept of self employment
otherwise we wouldn't be swamped with Polish plumbers
tim
they have already tried the "drivers are engaged under Dutch law" arguement
and been told it's bollocks
tim
*All* London taxis and private hire vehicles (when used for only applies to private hire bookings) are exempt from the CC
But you don't need to be tph registered to be with Uber. Unless things have changed. The Prius is CC exempt regardless.
It is also extremely expensive used due to the demand from Mini cab drivers.
AIUI Uber drivers need a private vehicle licence from TfL in order to lawfully pick up passengers in London. I'm not aware that that is new (unlike the changes to require better insurance, language tests etc). The recent ET case noted that Uber's operating company has held a Private Hire Vehicle Operator's Licence for London since May 2012.
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