How Ford plans to phase out the best-selling E-Series
Filed under: Minivan/Van, Work, Ford, Police/Emergency, Specialty
It is not often that an automaker decides to dump a best-selling vehicle line, one that's dominated its segment for decades. But Ford's commercial vehicle team is doing it not once, but twice. Ford had been phasing out its Panther platform for a good five years before it finally ceased production of its Crown Victoria taxi, Police Interceptor and Lincoln Town Car livery offerings in September. Now the company is set to do similarly with its E-Series van, which will eventually be replaced by Ford's Transit, the venerable European equivalent. Ford divulged a few more details about its commercial vehicle plans at a press event in Dearborn yesterday.In a commercial market where "change" is a four-letter word, Ford has a lot of explaining to do.
When the final Panthers rolled off the assembly line in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, Ford was left with no direct replacement. Instead, the company plans to sell the compact Transit Connect van in the taxi market, upgraded Tauruses and Explorers as police cars, and a "Town Car" version of the Lincoln MKT crossover to livery operators. All things being equal, these are significantly better products than their Panther-based predecessors, yet in a commercial market where "change" is a four-letter word, Ford has a lot of explaining to do.
Continue reading How Ford plans to phase out the best-selling E-Series
How Ford plans to phase out the best-selling E-Series originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsLast Ford Crown Victoria build documented by St. Thomas Assembly
Filed under: Sedan, Etc., Ford, Police/Emergency, Specialty
Pour a 40 out, dance a dervish or do whatever your people do to celebrate the dead, because yesterday, the final Ford Crown Victoria rolled off the assembly line at St. Thomas Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada. Workers from the plant have been documenting the wind-down on a Facebook page, and you can check out some choice build pictures of the last-ever Vicky in our gallery. The final Crown Victoria was a white model with tan interior and optional rear-seat air conditioning for a customer in Saudi Arabia. With the long-serving Lincoln Town Car also ending production, only 250 of the plant's roughly 1,200 workers will be kept through December to help decommission the facility.
On sale for roughly 32 years, the Crown Victoria was a mainstay of the Ford lineup that refused to modernize. Aside from the Lincoln, it was the only rear-wheel-drive, body-on-frame sedan left on sale in America. You could get it with a column-mounted shifter. You could order two bench seats and seat six comfortably (front bench seats in passenger vehicles are now officially dead in America). It rode on the oldest continuously produced platform on sale in America, Ford's tough-as-nails Panther platform that was first used back in 1979. Lastly, it always offered a V8 no matter what gas was going for at the corner station. Click through the jump to continue reading...
Continue reading Last Ford Crown Victoria build documented by St. Thomas Assembly
Last Ford Crown Victoria build documented by St. Thomas Assembly originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFord Transit Connect CNG taxis swing into action across U.S.
Filed under: Minivan/Van, Ford, Specialty
The next time you hail a cab in Southern California, you could be jumping into a vehicle fueled by clean-burning compressed natural gas (CNG). That's because California Yellow Cab of Orange County has become the state's first taxi company to put CNG-fueled Ford Transit Connect vans into service. California Yellow Cab says 10 (and soon more than 120) natural gas Connects are on the roads and ready to pick up passengers in the greater Los Angeles area.
Meanwhile, over in Chicago, Taxi Medallion Management says it has a dozen Ford Transit Connect CNG taxis in service. And in Connecticut, two cab companies are waiting for Ford to fulfill orders for 70 CNG-fueled Transit Connect taxis.
Later on, CNG-fueled Transits will ship out to Las Vegas and St. Louis. Philadelphia is expected to get in on the CNG action, too, once city officials approve natural gas vehicles for taxi duty.
Continue reading Ford Transit Connect CNG taxis swing into action across U.S.
Ford Transit Connect CNG taxis swing into action across U.S. originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 10 Sep 2011 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsFord Transit Connect Taxi approved for NYC cab duty
Filed under: Minivan/Van, Government/Legal, Ford
New York City's post-Crown-Victoria future is becoming clearer. It was nearly a year ago that the selection of the future NYC yellow taxi was narrowed to three: the Nissan NV200, Ford Transit Connect Taxi and the Turkish entry, the Karsan V1. And although the Karsan was the people's choice, the Nissan NV200 was chosen as the official livery chariot for the next ten years.
Interestingly, even though the NV200 has 'official' status, the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) can approve other vehicles for the fleet, and that's just what they've gone and done with the Transit Connect Taxi. That means that taxi companies can choose to add the yellow, 2.0-liter gas-powered van to their stables if they choose (and presumably their upcoming CNG and EV models as well). The approval opens another door to the Transit's by-the-mile transit victories, joining to Boston, Philadelphia and Orlando and California. Also of note is that it joins another Ford product that received the nod in New York - the Taurus.
There's a press release after the jump with more information. No word on whether the folks from Turkey can expect similar news anytime soon.
Continue reading Ford Transit Connect Taxi approved for NYC cab duty
Ford Transit Connect Taxi approved for NYC cab duty originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | CommentsCab Cannonball? Men take taxi ride from New York to Los Angeles [w/video]
Filed under: SUV, Etc., Videos, Ford, Specialty
Men take taxi ride from New York to Los Angeles - Click above to watch the video after the jump
We've taken a couple crazy cab rides in our lifetime, but we've never paid up for a ride that took us from New York to Los Angeles. John Belitsky and his buddy Dan Wuebben have done the deed, though, with cabbie Mohammed Alam providing the yellow Ford Escape taxi. The cost? $5,000. The media attention from paying a cabbie five grand to take you cross country? Priceless.
If you're thinking that this sounds like the script to a movie, Belitsky is probably thinking the same thing. CNN reports that the investment banker and son of a cab driver is heading to Hollywood to pitch the story as a movie idea, adding "we're going to take it to some movie people when we get there and see what happens."
We're all for a good (and we stress "good") road trip movie, but we're more impressed with the fact that Belitsky was able to convince a cab driver to take the fare in the first place. The traveling pair reportedly asked more than a few cabbies if they were up for the journey, but only Alam was interested in risking the hefty fare. But even at $5,000, Belitsky got off easy on the trip. We're guessing the trip would have cost at least three times as much if the meter were actually running, and the cab driver still had to get his Escape all the way back to the Big Apple.
Hit the jump to watch a WBIR video report about the trio's momentous road trip.
[Source: CNN]
Continue reading Cab Cannonball? Men take taxi ride from New York to Los Angeles [w/video]
Cab Cannonball? Men take taxi ride from New York to Los Angeles [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsSurprise! New York cabbies prefer Crown Vics to hybrids
Filed under: Hybrid, Sedan, Work, Ford
If it weren't for the somewhat obsessive and frankly narrow-minded love by taxi drivers and police officers for the body-on-frame Ford Crown Victoria, we'd imagine the old Panther platform would have been put out to pasture a very long time ago. As it stands, though, New York cabbies especially seem hell-bent on keeping it around on life support as long as possible.
Interestingly, though, a report from USA Today suggests that cab drivers make more money when operating a Crown Vic than any other automobile, and that supposedly includes hybrids. According to John Shaban, a 27-year-old cab driver, "I don't like the hybrids... Mechanics charge an arm and a leg for them."
Could it be that customers inherently prefer the Crown Vic? Shaban believes so, saying, "People wait for the Crown Vic because it's roomier. They're more likely to get in." Regardless, that's all set to change soon as Ford finally discontinues its long-running rear-wheel-drive people mover. It's expected to be replaced with - you guessed it - a hybrid or some other fuel efficient alternative.
[Source: USA Today | Image: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty]
Surprise! New York cabbies prefer Crown Vics to hybrids originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments