Razorback Vehicles, the Australian company that developed an innovative ground loading system for light commercial vehicles, is investing £19m in a UK manufacturing deal. Razorback has teamed up with Mayflower, which will make body panels and chassis at its Coventry plant.

The venture means Razorback will own and supply all the tooling, which will be commissioned into the Mayflower plant in mid-2001.

Final assembly of the vehicle will take place at Mayflower sites in the UK, Germany, North America and South-east Asia as Razorback expands into these markets.

Razorback has already been adopted by Volkswagen as one of its product ranges. The company's globalisation strategy involves using the dominant LCV chassis cab in each market and aligning the cab manufacturer with appropriate distributors.