The Daimler Victoria taximeter-cab began operating in Stuttgart in June 1897. Built by Gottlieb Daimler, it is widely described as the first motorized taxicab equipped with a fare meter.
The vehicle joined two important developments: the gasoline-powered automobile and the taximeter. A taximeter automatically measured the journey so passengers could be charged according to distance and waiting time rather than relying entirely on negotiation or a fixed fee.
Stuttgart was the base of the early service associated with the Daimler Victoria. The vehicle was supplied to Friedrich Greiner, a Stuttgart entrepreneur who established an early motorized taxi operation. This placed the city at an important transition point between horse-drawn cab services and automobile taxis.
The date is easy to confuse with later milestones. Motorized taxis appeared in other major cities only afterward: gasoline-powered taxi services began in Paris in 1899, London in 1903, and New York in 1907. Stuttgart therefore belongs to the pioneering first chapter of motor-taxi history, not the later spread of the service.