The Ford Transit is a family of light commercial vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1965, primarily as a cargo van, but also available in other configurations including a large passenger van (marketed as the Ford Tourneo in some markets since 1995), cutaway van chassis, and a pickup truck. The vehicle is also known as the Ford T-Series (T-150, T-250, T-350), a nomenclature shared with Ford's other light commercial vehicles, the Ford F-Series trucks, and the Ford E-Series chassis. As of 2015, 8 million Transit vans have been sold, making it the third best-selling van of all time[1] and has been produced across four basic platform generations (debuting in 1965, 1986, 2000, and 2013 respectively), with various "facelift" versions of each.
The first product of the merged Ford of Europe, the Transit was originally marketed in Western Europe and Australia. By the end of the twentieth century, it was marketed nearly globally with the exception of North America until 2013 when it replaced the Ford E-Series van. Upon its introduction in North America, the Transit quickly became the best-selling van of any type in the United States, minivan sales included.[2]
That mirrors the success the Transit has achieved in Europe, where it has been the best-selling light commercial vehicle for forty years, and in some countries the term "Transit" has passed into common usage as a generic trademark applying to any light commercial van in the Transit's size bracket.[3][4]
Several light trucks have been released under the name Ford Transit.
- Ford Transit (1977), a drop-side pickup truck
- Ford Transit (1987), a panel van - MB165
- Ford Transit (1995), a panel van - new casting - MB281 & MB431
- Ford Transit (2007), a new casting, reflecting changes to the prototype Ford Transit panel van
- Ford Transit Connect (2010), a passenger van
- Ford Transit News Van, a TV News van