houtex

Well, Zoran, IMO, fleet buyers won't care. Issa van. Does it do well at haulin' a buncha stuff, doesn't cost a ton in comparison, and be reliable? Fine, gimme.

I'm very curious how many of the E-series were personal, and how many won't buy the Transit instead... that's the only reason it'd fail, and if that's it, it's not gonna fail, methinks, or Ford wouldn't do it.

Like the CV for police, once the choice is taken away... they buy whatever's left, which is Impala, Charger, and Taurus. Or other SUVs. Pick.

Zastava_101

But are they gonna be buying Ford Transit or maybe Chevrolet Exploress / GMC Savanna?
I think Ford will lose sales.

jsaylor

Yep, Transit is straight out of Dearborn, which I suspect is one of the reasons why there has been so little fuss over it replacing the Econoline. Hard to get the US troops into a tizzy over a vehicle they designed.

I don't think the Transit is a bad vehicle by any means, I'm just not sure it suits American tastes with regard to what a full size van should and shouldn't be. The Sprinter recieved complaints that it was top heavy and handled poorly on interstates at speed compared to more traditional, American vans. I think the question here is whether this is endemic of European market vans as a whole or was it a 'Sprinter thing'.

Moosetang

Yes, I've been told the present generation platform was developed here by a multi-region dev team based in Dearorn. FoE's ability to develop a new large commercial platform on its own had atrophied, whereas FordNA has tons of experience in that area. I could be wrong but I think there were plans for the Transit to be sold here starting with the Mark 6, plans which were derailed over the course of Ford's late-90s-early-2000s tailspin.

jsaylor

Actually, that is pretty much in line with what I recall as well. For eons it seems Ford has flirted with the idea of moving Ford truck development back to North America as a whole, even if they wont admit to it. Honestly, I think they would be better served to do exactly that and get it over with. Think of the great Ford trucks in history, now think of how many of those were developed somewhere other than the US. Honestly, Transit is all I've got, and the latest version of that truck is already a US designed piece anyway. The T6 Ranger looks like a decent effort, but it is by no means perfect and is, IMO, likely more flawed than it likely would have been were it developed here. Cars we can argue, but it is extremely difficult to make a case for truck development being centered anywhere else but North America.

ford20

We recently bought a e-series van to replace a 2002 with the powerstroke in it that had over 500,000 miles in it. In fact I am sitting in the new van right now and in 2 months of owning the van we have 11,134.5 miles on it right now. If Ford offers a traditional style roof line and a high top van for the market than I think they will be ok. What I have heard from people who do plumbing and electrical etc. Is that they like the springer with the higher roof because they can stand in the van and look for parts and there is less clutter since they can fit more tools and supplies along the racks they have built in on the side. Now we mostly do furniture delievery so we deal with a lot of boxes and the van is nice because you still have 1st feet of storage space and you don't have to use a truck to do what the van can. The only downfall of it is that it would be nice to be able to fit a 54 in. Marble table in it without taking it off the skid but with the current van you can't do that bc the roof is to low. I think that once people get used to it it will sell fine if for can put a powerfulenough engine in it or advertise an ecoboost effectively enough for those who are used to having the power of a V8 when you need it. Most people stick with a brand and not buy the Chevy express or gmc express because of the body style. If its a Ford van than they know it was built to the built Ford tough standards and that's what you want out of a work vehicle. Something that is cost effective, reliable gets the job done and doesn't breakdown on you.

Zastava_101

I think that's my main concern about Transit - I don't think a twin-turbo V6 will be able to last 500,000 miles.

Maybe a turbo-diesel ... I have seen Volkswagen vans diesels in Europe to last 800,000 km (which is 500,000 miles).

Rather B.Blown

What kind of weight ratings do these vans come in? Can you get a 3/4 ton or ton like the E series? If not, I see quite a few sales being lost.

2k7gtcs

How many people can you fit in one of these things. You know stacked like cardboard. Im a coyote out Del Rio and the more people I can pack in the better my
profit margin. Plus sometimes I need to make a quick get away and a little more horsepower is good.

ford20

Thats what is going to be interesting to see, if it performs as good as what Ford put it through in its stress test I can see it happening but like you said who knows with the twin turbo if it has that longevity
Well I assume its going to be a 15 passenger van so safely I would say at least 30 people and another 2 in the glove compartment and thats without getting into hidden compartments and under the vehicle you know all that sort of ****