Transit Connect: Ford’s Trans-world Connection
February 06, 2008

By Michelle Krebs

It could be easy to dismiss the Transit Connect unveiled by Ford at the Chicago auto show Feb. 6 as just a commercial vehicle for delivering flowers, toting the Maytag repairman’s tools and hauling a local rock band’s instruments.

However, there’s big significance behind Ford’s boxy little truck/van. The Transit Connect is tangible evidence of Ford executives delivering on their vow to leverage global products. It is already a proven player in Europe’s commercial fleets and has similar potential in North America. And its prospects beyond commercial use in these days of boxy Scion xBs and Honda Elements abound.

The Product Details

Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s group vice president of Global Product Development, told reporters gathered for a sneak preview of the Transit Connect on the eve of its Chicago Auto Show unveiling the vehicle gives American small-business owners a new and unique vehicle choice that is part truck, part van.

The Transit Connect, he said, delivers improved fuel economy (19 mpg city, 24 mpg highway), bigger load capacity and better cargo accessibility than today’s commercial-vehicle offerings, mostly full-size vans and trucks.

On sale in the summer of 2009, the front-drive Transit Connect comes standard with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and four-speed automatic transmission. It drives and parks like a car. Its 6’ 8” height allows it in parking structures. Yet it is built to durable truck standards with thick, high-strength steel and side crossbeams.

Available with seating for two or five passengers, the Transit Connect has sliding doors on both sides and dual rear doors that open 180 degrees. Its tall, rectangular rear opening allows easy loading of cargo. And the cargo bay, which has 143 cubic feet of space, accommodates items 6.5 feet long and 4.7 feet wide.

The back can easily be outfitted with racks, drawers or whatever is needed for the job. At the Chicago Auto Show, Ford demonstrated the many ways the Transit Connect can be outfitted by having aftermarket companies deck them out for specific Chicago businesses — a catering firm, an audio-visual service business, a wine distributor, a parcel delivery option and even a Blues band.

Jim Farley, Ford’s head of global marketing, said the Transit Connect easily lends itself to being a canvas for a company’s signage in a unique package sure to catch the eye of passersby.

Ford is giving no hints about price or volume targets.

Leveraging Global Assets

For years, industry observers have wondered why in the world Ford doesn’t leverage its global assets. Why aren’t the critically acclaimed European Escort and the Mondeo sold in North America? Why doesn’t Ford tap into the power of its Asian truck making?

Less-often asked, but now obvious, is why hasn’t Ford sold its highly successful Transit Connect commercial vehicle in North America.

Alan Mulally, the Boeing executive who took over as CEO of Ford a year ago September, wondered the same. An element of his oft-heard mantra is “leverage global resources.”

And the time is just now right for the U.S. introduction of the Transit Connect, Mark Fields, Ford’s President of the Americas, told AutoObserver. Fields recalls his return to the U.S. after a long stint in Europe to notice signs for compact-vehicle-only spaces in parking structures, which weren’t there when he left. And the recent rise in gas prices have prompted consumers and business owners to downsize and be more energy conscious.

So although the B-segment Ford Verve, being designed and engineered in Europe but will be built and sold around the globe, promises to be Ford's first ground-up global car, and the Fusion-Mondeo merged after that, the Transit Connect can rightfully be called Ford’s first trans-world connection.

The Transit Connect is designed, engineered and manufactured by Ford of Europe. It is built in Turkey, described by a colleague as “the Mexico of Europe” for its low-cost manufacturing.

Commercial Success Undisputed

The success of the Transit Connect — and its big brother, the Transit — is undisputed. Ford has sold 5 million Transit Connects in Europe since 1965 and has won a host of awards, including the 2003 International Van of the Year award given by independent journalists. Even General Motors CFO Fritz Henderson, in an interview during the Detroit auto show with AutoObserver, said a reason Ford has done better than GM has in Europe is Ford's resounding success in the commercial-vehicle segment.

In the U.S., Ford claims to own a 40 percent share of the commercial-vehicle market and has been the full-size van leader with the Ford E-Series for 29 years. Transit Connect, Ford execs said, further builds Ford’s strong commercial-vehicle portfolio.

Ford’s xB Fighter?

But what about beyond the commercial market? The Transit Connect looks to be a natural.

In fact, Farley, lured from Toyota where he launched Scion, lit up when quizzed about the potential of the Transit Connect beyond the commercial application to personal use. Reporters asked: "Would surfers in Southern California, from where Farley just moved, like it? Could it be a customized van or camper? Could it be Ford’s Scion xB fighter?"

Farley gave no hints of Ford's plans, except to say the niche commercial market will be the first step for the Transit Connect. But he added: “As an ex-Scion guy … that square thing is great.”

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