Administrators for black cab-maker Manganese Bronze have already begun talks with interested parties after being called in.
PwC began running the Coventry-based business last week after it failed to gain new funding.
The move followed the suspension of its shares earlier this month, after a fault with the vehicle’s steering box led to over 400 cabs being recalled.
The company has been losing money for the past four years and PwC said in a statement this was due to a “combination of poor UK sales, supply chain issues, and high warranty costs” which were compounded when the accounting errors were discovered in the first half of 2012.
Manganese Bronze, which employs 277 people, most of them in Coventry, had been trying to secure a loan from Chinese shareholder Geely with which it has a joint venture in China itself.
Matthew Hammond, joint administrator, said: “Our immediate priority is to secure funding in order to explore the options rapidly developed by the management team and key suppliers to resolve the steering box recall.”
He said they were looking at options to either rescue the business or dispose of it to an investor who could secure the future manufacture of the black cab.
Earlier this month it stopped sales of its new TX4 model after it discovered a problem affecting the vehicles’ power steering, sourced from an unnamed new supplier since February.
The company said it had not put anyone in danger but “in extreme cases, it could affect the ability to steer the steering wheel”.
