London Taxis' Next Stop: Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani pop duo Ell & Nikki’s victory in last year’s Eurovision Song Contest has produced an unlikely beneficiary: a British taxi manufacturer. Tradition dictates that as reigning champ of the pan-European songfest, Azerbaijan gets to host the next competition, to be held on May 26. That has prompted the oil-rich nation to order 1,000 black London-style taxis. The iconic cabs are destined for the capital city of Baku, which has a fleet of 20,000 Soviet-era models, mostly Russian Lada sedans.

British automaker Manganese Bronze Holdings, which will paint its normally black taxis violet at the behest of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, is seeing a surge in interest from energy-exporting economies. In 2011 the company sold 1,502 vehicles in the U.K. and 705 overseas. This year, it predicts, it will for the first time sell more cabs abroad than in Britain.