The 2010 Ford Transit Connect will come to U.S. dealer showrooms this summer. The award-winning small panel van launched in Europe in 2003 and fills an unmet need for small business owners in the U.S. Len Deluca, director of Commercial Truck Sales and Marketing at Ford, says small business owners have told Ford they can't wait for the vehicle to come to market.
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| Cut #1: |
"People that have interior decorating, people that are caterers, flower delivery, wine delivery, that have their very diverse businesses that show the versatility of the vehicle." :12 sec. |
| Deluca says the vehicle can also be purchased by any retail buyer, not just small business. | |
| Cut #2: |
"The vehicle will come in as a wagon, ok, and it's a five-passenger vehicle that can be customized to whatever a customers needs are. If it's retail buyer and they just want a different look on a wagon, they can buy that wagon with five-passengers and have room in the back for carrying whatever, soccer equipment, hockey equipment. I mean, it can be used in such, it's primarily coming to market we really want to focus on the commercial aspect of that vehicle.." :24 sec. |
| The latest technology offered by Ford will be in the Transit Connect, it's called Ford Work Solutions, a suite of tools that makes a business more efficient. It has a wireless in-dash computer, access to the internet, a wireless keyboard, allowing the user to run his or her business out of the vehicle. | |
| Cut #3: |
"The second piece of it is tool-link, let's say you’re a carpenter, each of your tools in the back of the vehicle will have tags on them, that get scanned into the system, and before you leave for your job that morning, you can go in and check to ensure that you have all the tools that you need for the jobs you're going to do that day, that first of all saves you time from forgetting things before you leave and then after you're done with the day, you can go in and check to make sure you put everything back in the vehicle so you don't leave anything behind." :26 sec. |
| Ford leads the commercial truck segment with 40 percent share of the market, and Transit Connect represents an opportunity to further grow that leadership. Deluca says plans are in the works for a battery powered Transit Connect. | |
| Cut #4: |
"I know we're working on it and that is due to market in about year." :06 sec. |
| Transit Connect will be in showrooms this summer, with a price take starting at $21,475, including $695 destination charges. |