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SUMMARY:

• The SCOOTER Store, America’s leading supplier of scooters and power chairs for people with limited mobility, purchased a fleet of 120 Ford Transit Connects to deliver specialized wheelchairs and their service parts to people with complex rehabilitation needs.
• The SCOOTER Store was impressed by Transit Connect’s nearly five feet of floor-to-ceiling height in the cargo area.  The company’s Alliance Seating & Mobility (ASM) division needs the extra height because it regularly transports taller-than-conventional wheelchairs to patients with special rehab needs. 
• Transit Connect is equipped with a 2.0-liter I-4 engine and four-speed automatic overdrive transmission combination, rated at 22 mpg city, 25 highway mpg.  On sale now, Transit Connect starts at $21,475, including destination.

CONTEXT / BACKGROUND:

The SCOOTER Store adds Transit Connects to its fleet of commercial vehicles, primarily to deliver service parts and batteries to its specialized wheelchair customers.

The SCOOTER Store’s fleet manager says the Transit Connect offers excellent fuel efficiency at a very affordable price.  It also provides the much-needed height in the cargo area required by the company’s complex rehab division to transport taller, customized wheelchairs for patients with complex rehab needs.

For more information about The SCOOTER Store, please visit www.thescooterstore.com. 

DETAILS:

The SCOOTER Store, headquartered in New Braunfels, Texas, employs 2,400 people in 62 locations nationwide.  The company is a leading supplier of scooters and power chairs for people with limited mobility, and its Alliance Seating & Mobility (ASM) division was created to help improve the quality of life for children and adults with complex rehabilitation needs by providing customized equipment.

After researching the Transit Connect, The SCOOTER Store discovered that the vehicle offered excellent gas mileage (22 city / 25 highway) and a very affordable price.  And since ASM routinely provides patients with customized wheelchairs that are taller than conventional models, the company needed a vehicle that could accommodate the extra height.  With nearly five feet of floor-to-ceiling height in the cargo area, the Transit Connect was an ideal choice, and The SCOOTER Store invested in 120 vehicles.  The vehicle also makes a perfect delivery van for repair parts and batteries.

The SCOOTER Store’s fleet manager Russ Corrigan says employee feedback on the Transit Connect has been overwhelmingly positive.  Drivers particularly like the vehicle’s accessibility – with its large sliding doors on each side and double doors in the back – a safety benefit that enables them to unload equipment from the side as well as the back; the headroom and storage space above the windshield; and the fact that the cargo area is “just the right size.”  They also describe the Transit Connect as “fun to drive.” 

Corrigan says The SCOOTER Store was impressed by Ford’s “fantastic” customer service and corporate values, specifically the company’s efforts to give back to communities and protect the environment.  He says the Transit Connect is on its way to finding a well-received foothold in The SCOOTER Store’s fleet. 

Ford’s Transit Connect enjoys a global reputation for durability and toughness dating back to its 2003 launch, when an expert jury of European commercial vehicle journalists dubbed it International Van of the Year. 

Transit Connect is powered by a 2.0-liter I-4 engine with a four-speed automatic overdrive transmission.  The vehicle offers double the fuel economy of full-size vans with a rating of 22 mpg city and 25 mpg highway. 

The versatile Transit Connect is a global Ford product that can be adapted to multiple commercial business applications.  It has more than double the cargo-carrying space of the Chevrolet HHR Panel, and it offers users a cargo payload of up to 1,600 pounds, which means that it can carry a larger payload than the full-size Dodge Ram 1500 standard-cab short-box pickup truck.  

The Transit Connect is available now at Ford dealerships throughout the country.

QUOTES:

“The Transit Connect has proven to be the ideal choice for our complex rehab division. It offers the fuel economy, cargo space, safety and fun-to-drive factor that our employee-owners want and need to provide freedom and independence to people with limited mobility.”

-Russ Corrigan, Fleet Manager, The SCOOTER Store

“Transit Connect was developed to bring small-business owners a new vehicle choice, offering significantly improved fuel economy, generous and accessible cargo space with the agility and maneuverability to deliver the goods in tight quarters.”

-Rob Stevens, Chief Nameplate Engineer, Ford Transit Connect

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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents.  With about 200,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo.  The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company.  For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.ford.com.

About The SCOOTER Store
Since 1991, The SCOOTER Store has helped provide freedom and independence to more people with limited mobility than any other company in the nation. Forty percent employee-owned, the company primarily offers power mobility equipment, including power wheelchairs, scooters, lifts, ramps, and accessories in 48 states and Puerto Rico. The SCOOTER Store has an estimated 30 percent of the current U.S. market in the DME industry and is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Health Care. The goal of The SCOOTER Store is to create an opportunity for every American senior to live their entire life safely and confidently at home.