All-New Ford Transit Goes On Sales As Transit Custom Wins Van of the Year

All-new Ford Transit 2-tonne model

The all-new Ford Transit 2-tonne model is now available to order.

The all-new Ford Transit two-tonne van is due to go on sale in the UK early in 2014, and is now available to order. Will it be as successful as the Transit Custom, which has just won the What Van? Van of the Year award for the second year running?

Don’t bet against it. Ford’s new vehicles — cars and vans — are really hitting a sweet spot at the moment, and the firm’s One Ford initiative, aimed at selling the same models in Europe and the US, is a policy that other manufacturers are starting to follow.

The big Transit is a completely new model, and will be pitched directly against other large vans, like the Sprinter and Ducato, leaving Ford’s smaller Transit Custom model to compete with smaller models like the Volkswagen Transporter and Mercedes-Benz Vito.

Ford’s two-pronged approach should enable it to compete more effectively in both the medium and large van markets than previously, when the Transit was a jack of all trades that participated in both markets.

According to Ford, the Transit ECOnetic will be able to deliver CO2 emissions from just 169g/km and fuel consumption of as little as 44mpg — impressive stuff.

Ford reckons that the new model will have best-in-class running costs and load capacity, and says that it will offer extended 2-year/30,000 mile service intervals, with just 4.2 hours of scheduled maintenance required during the first 90,000 miles — down from 5.4 hours for the outgoing model. Non-scheduled maintenance times have also been cut, according to Ford — for example, a rear brake disc replacement will take 1.3 hours, rather than the outgoing model’s deeply extravagant 2.6 hours.

The new Transit will be powered by a 2.2-litre Duratorq diesel with a choice of three power ratings (100PS, 125PS and 155PS) and a 6-speed manual transmission. The ECOnetic specification will be available up to 3.5t for the first time, and will feature Auto Start-Stop and Ford’s Acceleration Control feature, which limits the acceleration of unladen vans to avoid drivers hoofing it when empty…

Overall, the new model looks set to be a corker of a van that should be popular with van rental fleets and businesses alike — can’t wait to see how it compares to the new Sprinter.

2 thoughts on “All-New Ford Transit Goes On Sales As Transit Custom Wins Van of the Year

  1. Pingback: Citroën To Unveil New Relay At April’s CV Show - Van News: The VanRental.co.uk Blog

  2. Pingback: “Untouchable” Ford vans claim six trophies at 2014 VansA2Z Awards - Van News: The VanRental.co.uk Blog

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