In a yellow taxi Nissan sees gold

NEW YORK -- Nissan will do well to sell 4,000 of them a year. But the automaker is giving its new van-shaped taxi cab all the auto show fanfare of one of its biggest products.
Models last night handed out prepaid credit cards to New Yorkers worth a free cab ride in the city as a way of advertising Nissan's entry into the taxi business.
The canary yellow cab -- a converted Nissan NV200 commercial van -- is being hawked in billboards around the New York auto show, and the only existing model of the van sits prominently on Nissan's display at the show, even though it will not appear on the streets until October 2013.
Why all the hoopla?
Three reasons, according to Nissan Motor Co. CEO Carlos Ghosn:
First, New York is only the beginning.
"Eventually, we'll see it in other markets in the world," he says. The company has received queries on the cab from cities in China, India and Britain.
Second, the so-called "Taxi of Tomorrow" will serve as a rolling advertisement for the Nissan brand for millions of New Yorkers and tourists, Ghosn says, showing off Nissan as a technology innovator.
"Six hundred thousand people a day will experience it," Ghosn says.
Among the cab's innovations: interiors made of anti-bacterial materials that neutralize odors and germs; large roof skylights to let visitors gaze at the city skyline while in traffic; rear-seat reading lights; plug-in jacks to recharge cell phones; separate passenger air conditioner controls; a driver-to-passenger intercom system; and an embedded radio-transmission feature that helps hearing-impaired passengers hear the driver.
The taxi also will come as a battery-powered electric vehicle, giving Nissan still more exposure as a maker of electric cars.
"In my opinion, the EV will be the dominant version of the taxi," Ghosn conjectured. "It's quieter, and that will be attractive."Automobile News

In the 2012 New York Auto Show take a Great Picture and Win a Trip

Every year, the New York Auto Show is home to a number of debuts for some of the greatest automobiles around the world, and at this year’s show, you could be there capturing those moments when automakers pull back the covers to reveal their latest masterpieces. As part of Snap My Life’s auto show contest, one lucky person will be chosen as the roving photographer for Snap My Life and will be able to attend the two press days of the 2012 New York Auto Show to take pictures of the vehicles as they are debuted. These pictures will then be streamed during the official photo stream of the New York Auto Show. The winner will also get a brand new EOS Rebel T3i Digital Camera.
So, here is how you enter. Take a photograph of a car and submit it to Snap My Life. Then tell everyone you know to click on the Like button associated with your image. At the end of the contest, whichever picture has the most likes will be declared the winner.
The contest is open to anyone in the contiguous United States who is at least 21 years old, be it professional or amateur photographer. Only original photographs that have not been previously published, for which the entrant possesses all necessary rights will be accepted as valid entries. Photographs that have won awards or have been subjected to any previous form of judging process will not be accepted.
Check out Snap My Life’s entree and photograph criteria after the jump. For full contest rules and to check out the competition, head on over to snap My Life, but you better hurry; contest ends March 20, 2012.Automobile News