[Damaskinos_of_Athens]

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14,381 Transits sold in April 2016.

Roughly 170K annual rate - looks like a decent success.

Hopefully that means Ford gives Transit more attention when it comes to options.

http://www.automobilemag.com/news/936000/
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[TomB985]

But who's buying them?

I see Transits frequently up here, but just about all of them are commercial. Seems like they're being marketed and sold as commercial vehicles that consumers may also want, rather than something aimed towards consumers. Unless that changes I doubt you'll see the options consumer models get.

 

[sosmercford]

Tom, I see you have a long wheelbase low roof wagon. Does it have dual rear wheels? What seating arrangement do you have? Is this an xl or xlt.
Are you satisfied with the engine? Sorry for all the questions, but this is about what we are looking for.

 

[TomB985]

Tom, I see you have a long wheelbase low roof wagon. Does it have dual rear wheels? What seating arrangement do you have? Is this an xl or xlt.
Are you satisfied with the engine? Sorry for all the questions, but this is about what we are looking for.

Don't mind answering questions at all.

Does it have dual rear wheels?

Nope, this is the regular version. 9,000 lb GVWR. Mine was an ex-rental van, picked it up with 24,000 miles for $23K.

What seating arrangement do you have?

12-passenger seating. Three seats in the second and third row, with four across the fourth. There's about 40" of open floor length behind the rear seat for cargo.

Is this an xl or xlt.

Mine is an XLT. Happy with it for the most part, but really wish I could have found one with SYNC. Every XLT I've found has the backup camera, which is great, and mine also had the parking sensors.

Are you satisfied with the engine?

Much more than I thought I would. For a small engine, it does a really great job moving 6,200 lbs of van around. The 6-speed auto does a good job putting the engine where it needs to be, and there's plenty of power available for passing and merging. Takes more revs to do so than the EB would, but it does a fine job. I have the EcoBoost engine in my F150 and would have really liked that engine in the Transit. Unfortunately used EB models were tough to find, and those that were out there were expensive. I test drove a used EB model with 5,000 miles that I really liked...but they wanted $38,000 for it. I saved $15K by going with the base engine, slightly less equipment, and 18,000 more miles. I'm very happy with my choice.

Installed an aftermarket hitch and the factory wiring kit in the last week, very interested in seeing how it tows the boat.

 

[alarmist]

But who's buying them?

I see Transits frequently up here, but just about all of them are commercial. Seems like they're being marketed and sold as commercial vehicles that consumers may also want, rather than something aimed towards consumers. Unless that changes I doubt you'll see the options consumer models get.

Exactly that. When Ford can outsell all the competition combined there is no need to commit resources to the non-commercial market segment. Remember, for 30 years they never advertised the E series. Not the way to move consumer goods, if that's one's intention. Of course, the E series was such a pig to drive in town, I suspect they were embarrassed to sell them as daily drivers. The Transit is so much nicer, maybe things will change. Can anyone recall a Transit ad aimed at the personal use crowd?

 

[Damaskinos_of_Athens]

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My take is Ford has a factory in Kansas City running two shifts making Transits.

I know nothing about car factories but pretty sure they could do three shifts.

If demand gets to the point that they need three shifts then they get full utilization of their investment and do not need to goose demand.

If they plateau at less than full utilization, a business case can be made to increase demand.

The lowly F series was not always a big seller. F stands for farm, it was just a dowdy unattractive farm implement. F series is a triumph of marketing.

Same thing could be done to Transit.

UK had a Transit Sport a while back, so it is not a foreign idea to Ford.

If they came out with a 4x4 Raptorized Transit it would move the image from boring to Sporty and sales would improve significantly.

More options would also help. Crewvan for one.

It is all up to corporate.

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[brittles]

Not sure how true it is, but read that Ford sold about 10,000 E series vans per month in a good year. If this is true then Ford is probably happy with the Transit sales.