Transit Connect Expands Ford's Commercial Vehicle Offerings

Feb 10
10:04

2009

Matthew C. Keegan

Matthew C. Keegan

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The Ford Transit Connect is a commercial vehicle built in Turkey for the European market and three other major markets. Beginning this summer, the Transit Connect will find a home in the U.S.

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In 2002,Transit Connect Expands Ford's Commercial Vehicle Offerings Articles the Ford Motor Company rolled out a new commercial vehicle to serve the entry level of that market. Called the Ford Transit Connect, the Turkish-built vehicle is powered by a 1.8L I4 engine paired with a four-speed automatic or five-speed manual transmission. Since its inception, the Transit Connect has sold more than 600,000 copies and is poised to be exported to the US market beginning this summer. Yes, America will get what Europe already loves: a compact, roomy and capable commercial vehicle like none other available stateside.

Ford's decision to make the Transit Connect available stateside came about during Summer 2008, when fuel prices topped four dollars a gallon. At that time, Ford's sole line of commercial vehicles were its E-Series vans as well as select versions of its F-Series trucks. These vehicles routinely achieve just 13-19 mpg while the new Transit Connect is expected to get 20 mpg city and 24 mpg highway.

The Ford Ranger, its compact pickup, can also be used as a commercial vehicle but it simply doesn't have the carrying capacity of a small, commercial vehicle. The Ford Aerostar, the last minivan produced by the automaker is no longer on sale and was a capable option for service people while it lasted. Thus, Ford decided to bring the Transit Connect stateside in a bid to fill a glaring gap in its line up.

“Transit Connect is a tangible success of our ‘One Ford’ strategy to harness the best of our global products and offer new choices and solutions to customers in other parts of the world,” said Mark Fields, Ford’s president of The Americas.  “With 40 percent market share, Ford is the reigning Commercial Truck leader in the United States, and we’re looking for Transit Connect to further grow our leadership and allow even more customers to experience the ‘Built Ford Tough’ difference.”

In addition, Ford lists the following attributes for the Transit Connect:

Ford fills an unmet U.S. commercial business need with new Transit Connect, an industry-exclusive vehicle specifically developed to be a smart new choice for small business owners

Low operating and ownership costs, a fuel-efficient 2.0-liter engine, 135 cubic feet of cargo space, a 1,600 pound payload capacity, available Ford Work Solutions technology and various cargo management systems make Transit Connect a smart solution

Transit Connect, a strong global Ford product, goes on sale in the U.S. this summer, starting at $21,475, including destination

Does the Transit Connect have any competition stateside? Not really, although the Chevrolet HHR Panel provides compact commercial vehicle capacity with one major drawback: its carrying capacity is roughly half that of the Transit Connect.