Chicago 2008: Ford Transit (Connect) Crossing the Pond!

[YSSMAN]

Yay-ish!?

Lots of businesses and even regular folk have a need for a vehicle with plenty of space inside to carry stuff that isn't necessarily incredibly heavy. For those applications, something like a full-size van is just overkill and results in higher than necessary operating costs. Over the years, Chevy, Dodge and Ford have all offered cargo van versions of their mini-vans for plumbers, caterers and anyone else that didn't need the extra two rows of seats but wanted more storage space. With the demise of the Windstar/Freestar in late 2006, and new, stricter fuel economy regulations on the horizon, Ford found a new solution in its European lineup. Several years ago it launched the Transit Connect, a smaller, tall roofed front-wheel-drive van.

At 6'8" tall, the Transit Connect easily fits in a garage, but the low floor provides lots of room for racks of tools, parts or whatever else the owner might need to haul around. It will be available with either just the two front seats or with an additional second row bench seat for three. In two seater form, the Connect has 143 cubic ft. of storage space that is easily accessible from either of the two sliding doors or the 180o fold out rear doors. The front wheels will be driven by a 2.0L four cylinder gas engine in the US version since Ford is trying to keep the Transit affordable and skipping the diesels for now. It's currently estimating 19/24 mpg city/highway, which is about 2 mpg better than the Chevy and Dodge cargo vans. Ford will start bringing the Transit Connect to the US in mid-2009 from an assembly plant in Turkey and pricing has yet to be announced.

So this is going to take on the Dodge Sprinter van, which has been pretty successful... I'd love to have the "real" Transit, but yeah, this is close enough...

EDIT: This one looks "cool"

 

[Sage]

I was kind of embarrassed to post the article about the VW van, but… seriously…?

 

[YSSMAN]

Meh, the Transit gets a lot of talk for what it did on Top Gear. I seem to remember the Transit Sport thread getting a bit of traffic.

...Yes, its a sad news day when you start with a cargo van...

 

[TheCracker]

It's not even a proper Transit van. Its based on the original Focus floor pan, which i suppose isn't such a bad thing.

 

[Jay]

Transit.....that tiny thing... Haha thats sure not the Ford transit we get here (as TheCracker explained)

 

[Sniffs]

Econoline gets a replacement...
we had our own...it was called Aerostar
blame this on Mercedes. dodge bummed one offa them.

 

[Joey D]

I could see this working well, I mean really your only other option in small transport is a PT Cruiser or the HHR panel wagon. Hopefully they will put a diesel in there eventually.

 

[Jim Prower]

Wait...We're getting the little one, but not the big one?

all I can see this one replacing is the ubiquitous US Post Office Mail Van. The bigger vans have it covered in cargo space and power, I'll bet.

And they can easily slap a "Bold" grille on the damn thing, if they want.

 

[TopHat]

I wonder if It'll come in passenger trim... Then it may be interesting.

 

[YSSMAN]

^ I was actually thinking the same thing ^

Cut off the tall roof, make it a cheaper alternative to the Mazda5 and the like. Not a bad idea...

As an alternative to the PT Cruiser and the HHR Pannel, it makes sense. Thing is, they keep saying that they're targeting the Sprinter and the Express vans (it seems), so this may be a bit on the small side...

 

[JCE]

It's not even a proper Transit van. Its based on the original Focus floor pan, which i suppose isn't such a bad thing.

So this is as close to a Focus MkII as American can get? Erm, I'll take it.

Seriously, it looks pretty decent and with the right engine choices (diesel!) it could be a small hit.

 

[Philly]

^ I was actually thinking the same thing ^

Cut off the tall roof, make it a cheaper alternative to the Mazda5 and the like. Not a bad idea...

As an alternative to the PT Cruiser and the HHR Pannel, it makes sense. Thing is, they keep saying that they're targeting the Sprinter and the Express vans (it seems), so this may be a bit on the small side...

After putting a new body on, I could see this being a decent competitor there. Maybe we could convince them to put the RWD setup in too.

So this is as close to a Focus MkII as American can get? Erm, I'll take it.

You know you've got problems when people are buying a van to use as a compact over the current compact.

Which Focus is this based on? I wouldn't doubt if it was on the MkI platform.

If it does well, maybe it'll give an opportunity for Renault to come over and compete with their Kangoo thing and have a few other models tag along for the ride?

 

[YSSMAN]

The Ford Transit Connect is a panel van developed by Ford Europe an introduced in 2002. It replaced the older Escort van range, which had ceased production two years earlier. The Tourneo Connect, a leisure activity vehicle, is basically a Transit Connect with side windows and rear seats.

Despite the name, it shares very few components with the Transit; in fact its closes architecture is the C170 platform of the original Ford Focus. The Connect is built by Otosan in an all new production plant near Kocaeli, Turkey.

The Ford Transit Connect was awarded "Van of the Year 2004" by Professional Van and Light Truck Magazine. However, it never gained the popularity of the Ford Escort Van and the Ford Fiesta-based Ford Courier.

In January 2007 a Turkish newspaper Sabah [1][2] announced that Transit Connect will be exported to United States starting in the fall of 2007. While Ford has been mum on this topic, in June 2007 first prototype was seen running in California. [3] At the 2008 Chicago Auto Show, the official U.S. unveiling of the Transit Connect took place [4]. The vehicle will be sold in select urban areas of the United States beginning in mid-2009.

All is answered on Wiki!

 

[Jim Prower]

RE: new photo: HAH! I KNEW they were gonna Gilette it!

 

[The Vanishing Boy]

-> Nice! A step closer to the real one.

-> I like this, a first Euro-Ford in the US in ages. And a good competitor to the Element, PT Cruiser, and the HHR. But not quite an Econoline replacement but close, we still need the real full-size Transit.

 

[Jim Prower]

If Ford could/would/should get the contract, your postman could be pretty happy, too...

The Transit HAS to be ten times better than THAT...

 

[YSSMAN]

I want this one:

 

[Jim Prower]

Yeah, the fullsizer would be cool. and with the nice wheels, and, hopefully, stiffer antiroll bars...

Well, Imagine this was a Ford and not a Toyota...

 

[Eric.]

Haha, at about 20 seconds its like they scrambled FCs to intercept the van.

 

[Vonie]

Now that's a classy van! Now they need an HHR SS Panel competitor. How about one of those new 300 hp TT V6's?

 

[JCE]

I want this one:

I'd own that. Its the best looking van ever.

 

[TopHat]

Look at us. Getting all excited over a Transit. We must look so silly to those who have them already.

 

[JCE]

I remember when we all got excited about the VAUXHALL ASTRA coming to America.

 

[The Vanishing Boy]

I remember when we all got excited about the VAUXHALL ASTRA coming to America.

^ I'm sorry, but I wasn't one of you guys that got excited on the Astra.

-> I'm glad that Ford came to its senses a bit, its about time that the Sprinter has a direct competitor, sort of.

 

[TheCracker]

-> I'm glad that Ford came to its senses a bit, its about time that the Sprinter has a direct competitor, sort of.

It's not a direct competitor to the Sprinter in any way except they are both called 'vans'. You could fit one of these Transit Connects inside a Sprinter. It's a small van based on a hatchback.

 

[Jim Prower]

Well, I understood that. Around here, the only competition is the US Post Office Grumman LLV Mail Truck. I can imagine seeing Transits in UPS Brown, FedEx White, and DHL Yellow...but I think the true potential is seeing them in USPS white.

 

[Joey D]

Do you think the US Postal Service would want to use a European van? I can see people complaining about them "not supporting the American auto industry" because it's European in some ways.

 

[Jim Prower]

On the other hand, it's more comfortable: I could see it used in routes where larger minivans would be used now. However, after finding what "LLV means, ("Long-life vehicle) I'm starting to think the Postal Service would probably stick to their Grummans for most local routes.

 

[TheCracker]

Do you think the US Postal Service would want to use a European van? I can see people complaining about them "not supporting the American auto industry" because it's European in some ways.

UPS don't even use European vans over here in Europe. They use the same as they do over there and look odd for that reason too.

Ford is an American company anyway isn't it? - the original Focus was developed in europe first, i take it that Americans don't complain that it's European too?

 

[Joey D]

Meh people in American will find any little thing to complain about, a bunch of people did it when GM brought the GTO over from Australia and I hear it now with the G8. I don't have a problem with it because like you said it's all the same company but I'm guessing there will be people that will complain.