title: Doug Ducey

text: On June 29, 2020, Ducey ordered some businesses that had reopened, including bars, gyms, and waterparks, to close for 30 days. The order also prohibited large gatherings of more than 50 people. Although Arizona activated a hospital crisis standards of care plan that allowed hospitals to maximize surge staffing and capacity, no hospitals reported rationing health care at the state's infection peak.


title: Doug Ducey

text: On August 6, Ducey, State Superintendent Kathy Hoffman, and the Arizona Department of Health Services released public health benchmarks for reopening schools. The school benchmarks track COVID-19 statistics by county, including cases per 100,000 people over two weeks, low rates of positive tests, and declining COVID-19 cases in hospitals, for schools to meet before moving to hybrid or fully in-person instruction. Eleven counties met the benchmarks for hybrid schooling in September. On August 10, Arizona's health department released similar benchmarks for reopening higher-risk businesses such as bars, gyms, and movie theaters.


title: Doug Ducey

text: Due to unhappiness with Ducey's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, some constituents filed recall petitions against him. One such group, Arizonans for Liberty, a largely conservative group believing that Ducey infringed on personal freedoms with lockdowns in late March 2020, filed on May 1, 2020; the group did not publish estimates of the number of signatures collected, but failed to collect enough signatures to initiate a recall. Another group, Accountable Arizona, a nonpartisan, grassroots movement believing that Ducey had not done enough to combat the pandemic, filed on September 18, 2020, and gathered over 150,000 signatures before their January 16 deadline, but far fewer than the 594,111 required to trigger a recall election.


title: Doug Ducey

text: On March 3, 2021, Ducey ordered all Arizona schools to offer in-person learning by March 15, with exceptions for counties with high transmission rates, including Pinal, Coconino, and Yavapai. On March 5, after a decrease in cases and deaths, Ducey lifted specific capacity limits on businesses, and made it easier for baseball games to reopen. On March 25, he removed all restrictions, allowing bars and other businesses to operate at 100% capacity, and barred counties and cities from issuing mask mandates. Later in the year, Ducey challenged an Arizona school district that required unvaccinated students who had been exposed to COVID-19 to quarantine for 10 days. He also said that schools that required mask wearing would be excluded from new education grants.


title: Doug Ducey

text: After the 2020 presidential election, Ducey signed legislation that purges voters from the vote-by-mail system unless they voted by mail every two years. The bill was estimated to lead to the immediate removal of 100,000 to 200,000 voters from the vote-by-mail system. In 2021, Ducey signed legislation that would prevent mail-in voters from fixing missing signatures on their ballots after election day.


title: Doug Ducey

text: In the last weeks of his administration, Ducey ordered the construction of an impromptu wall made of shipping containers in Cochise County on the Mexico–U.S. border. The wall is being built in contravention of federal law in the Coronado National Forest, without the authorization of the United States Forest Service, which owns the land. His successor Katie Hobbs has pledged to remove the wall. The sheriff of neighboring Santa Cruz County has advocated for federal agents to seize vehicles associated with the project to enforce federal law.


title: Doug Ducey

text: Ducey met his wife, Angela, while attending Arizona State University. They live in Paradise Valley with their three sons. Ducey is a lifelong member of the Catholic Church.


When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (stylized in all caps) is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Billie Eilish. It was released on March 29, 2019, by Darkroom and Interscope Records in the US and Polydor Records in the UK. Eilish largely wrote the album with her brother Finneas O'Connell, who produced it at his small bedroom studio in Highland Park, Los Angeles.


Musically, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" is a pop, electropop, avant-pop, and art pop record, though it also features influences from hip hop and industrial music. Its songs explore themes such as modern youth, drug addiction, heartbreak, suicide, and mental health, with lyrical sensibilities of humor and horror. Eilish said the album was inspired in part by lucid dreaming and night terrors, which are reflected on the cover photo.


title: When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

text: The album was marketed with the release of seven singles, four of which received multi-platinum certifications in the US—"You Should See Me in a Crown", "When the Party's Over", "Bury a Friend", and the worldwide hit "Bad Guy". Eilish also embarked on several tours in support of the album, including the When We All Fall Asleep Tour and the Where Do We Go? World Tour. An immediate commercial success, the album topped record charts in many countries during its first week of release. By June 2019, it had sold more than 1.3 million copies in the US and become the year's best-selling album in Canada, while in the UK, it had made Eilish the youngest female solo act to chart at number one.


text: Upon release, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" received universal acclaim and was one of the year's most acclaimed albums. Many reviewers praised its subject matter, songwriting, cohesiveness, and Eilish's vocal styling. At the 2020 Grammy Awards, it won Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, while "Bad Guy" won Record of the Year and Song of the Year; Finneas also won the award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. In 2020, the album was ranked at 397 on "Rolling Stone"'s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.


text: Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell began working on "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" in May 2016 with the track "Listen Before I Go", but re-recorded the song two years later in spring 2018. Eilish intended the album to contain material "that's so fun to be in the moment at a show to" as well as "shit that's crazy and also depressing." She further wished to "do everything in this album" due to her hatred for genre restrictions.


text: The album was recorded in O'Connell's small bedroom studio in Highland Park, California using production material including Logic Pro X, a Universal Audio Apollo 8 interface and a pair of Yamaha HS5 studio monitors with an H8S subwoofer. The pair explained that they chose this recording location rather than a professional studio due to the bedroom's intimate and homely nature as well as the manner in which the bedroom affects vocals, while criticizing an external studio's lack of natural light and high cost of use. Despite the independence of the writing process, they were nonetheless subject to deadlines and meetings with Eilish's label, Darkroom/Interscope; she later stated that she "hated every second" of the album's creation. Audio mixing was handled by Rob Kinelski, who had mixed all of Eilish's work thus far. In an interview with "Billboard", Kinelski disclosed that O'Connell would send him "really nice stems" for separate instruments during the process.


text: On March 20, 2018, Eilish confirmed that she was working on an album and estimated that it would be released towards the end of the year. In July 2018, during an interview with BBC Radio 1, she announced that the album was expected to be out on March 29, 2019. The album was mastered and finished in January 2019.


text: Eilish's vocal style on "When We All Fall Asleep" has frequently been described as soft and whispered by music critics. Neil McCormick of "The Daily Telegraph" stated that the singer's tone "can shift from coquettish to threatening, playfully ironic to emotionally sincere in a breath", adding that her "close-to-the-mic singing is enhanced by layers of ethereal harmonies without swamping a sense of intimacy." It has further been likened to ASMR; while some reviewers simply stated that her voice reminded them of the sensation, others stated that they experienced "tingles" listening to Eillish's vocals, with Helen Holmes of "Observer" citing the singer's "little giggles and intonations, and the way her intonation 'falls off' at the end of sentences" as the reasons.


text: The album is built around O'Connell's production which frequently incorporates amplified bass, minimalist percussion, and additional foley and acoustic sounds. While the song structures on the record are traditional in construction, made of formal melodies accompanied with keyboard, guitar or bass instrumentation, it further incorporates harsh, industrial influences, prompting Jon Caramanica of "The New York Times" to describe Eilish as "the first SoundCloud-rap pop star, without the rapping." Chris Willman of "Variety" also noted the album's usage of dissonance and distortion, commenting that, "With all its moments of distortion and attitude, tempered by sheer loveliness, and rude and emotional songs about night terrors and daydreams, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" feels like a rock 'n' roll album, even if there's virtually nothing on it that sounds like rock music." Elsewhere, critics have highlighted indie electronic, pop, EDM, dance-pop, synth-pop, R&B, trap and jazz influences. The record has been noted for its minimalist and hip hop-inspired production, leading to comparisons to Lorde's debut album "Pure Heroine", which was largely the aim of the siblings, as they found that adding additional musical features often makes a song sound "way worse".


text: Because Eilish draws on a variety of genres, Yasmin Cowan of "Clash" opined that "to confine [her] to any specific brand of music would be doing her craft a disservice," although other reviewers have characterized "When We All Fall Asleep" as a pop, electropop, avant-pop, and art pop album. Robert Christgau describes it as "electro-saturated", and Chris Riemenschneider from the "Star Tribune" calls it "jaggedly rhythmic, candidly intimate stream-of-consciousness electro-pop", while "Rolling Stone" writer Suzy Exposito finds it "full of dressed-down avant-pop with D.I.Y. immediacy and intimacy" yet still comparable to the maximalist pop of Eilish's contemporaries Ariana Grande and Halsey. According to Amanda Petrusich from "The New Yorker", Eilish's "spare, portentous" style of electropop "recalls the work of Trent Reznor, but is imbued with far more friskiness, conviviality, and youthful nonchalance". In Tom Hull's opinion, the album's electropop songs have a quality of catchiness but feature unobtrusive hooks.


text: Lyrically, the album deals with the hopes and fears of contemporary youth, touching on themes of drug addiction, heartbreak, climate change, mental health and suicide. In an interview with Zane Lowe, Eilish explained that the album was largely inspired by lucid dreaming and night terrors, revealing that it "is basically what happens when you fall asleep," hence its title, and stated at an earlier interview that it "is basically supposed to be a bad dream, or a good dream". "i-D" writer Jack Hall noted that in order to deal with the record's serious subject matter in a less portentous manner, Eilish writes with humor and horror in a manner similar to memes. Despite this, it is unclear whether the experiences found in the lyrics are her own, since she often distances herself from the content of her songs. The singer explained to "Rolling Stone" that she and her brother "like writing from other people's perspectives," elaborating that half of the songs on the album "are fictional and half are things [she] was going through, and no one will ever know which is which." In 2021, Eilish stated that the album was "almost all fictional".


text: The album's opening track, "!!!!!!!", is a short intro in which Eilish slurps saliva from her Invisalign aligners and announces that "this is the album", before she and her brother descend into laughter. O'Connell explained that it served to "find a sense of humor" amidst the "heaviness" of the album. The following track, "Bad Guy", is a pop-trap song which uses a bass, a kick-drum and amplified finger snaps in its production. The song's lyrics feature Eilish taunting her partner, while suggesting that she is the "bad guy" rather than him. Eilish was inspired to write "Xanny" after attending a party at which her friends "kept throwing up, kept drinking more," consequently becoming "completely not who they were". While recording the song, Eilish and her brother created a sound inspired by a girl blowing cigarette smoke in the former's face alongside a drum kit and a jazz-inspired loop in order to replicate the feeling of being "in secondhand smoke".


text: "You Should See Me in a Crown", which the two siblings wrote after watching the third episode of the second season of BBC television series "Sherlock" titled "The Reichenbach Fall", is a trap-influenced electropop song which features Eilish singing over "blaring synths and rapid-fire hi-hats." "All the Good Girls Go to Hell" was described by "Stereogum" as a "punchy piano number" and one of the album's "poppiest tracks," and explores the idea that God and the Devil are both "looking at human beings as this kind of meek group of people and just being like, "What are they trying to do here?"" The following track, "Wish You Were Gay", is a jazzy classic pop song where Eilish sings of her wish that a man she likes was gay in order to explain his lack of romantic interest in her. The seventh song on the album, "When the Party's Over", is a piano ballad with choral influences, and was written after O'Connell had left his date's house "kind of for no reason."


text: The eighth track, titled "8", is a ukulele-based lullaby which manipulates Eilish's vocals to make her sound like a small child. The following song, "My Strange Addiction", is a bass-heavy pop song which samples audio from an episode of the American television sitcom "The Office" titled "Threat Level Midnight". In order to include the samples, Eilish needed the approval of Steve Carell, B. J. Novak, John Krasinski and Mindy Kaling, the members of the episode's cast featured in the audio, which they all personally granted. The next track, "Bury a Friend", has been described as a minimalist electronica and industrial song, and musically features a beat reminiscent of "Black Skinhead" by Kanye West, a vocal line similar to "People Are Strange" by the Doors, and scattered synth melodies. It is written from the perspective of a monster under a bed, exploring what "this creature [is] doing or feeling", with lyrics from which the album title originates. The song's beat segues into the eleventh track "Ilomilo", an electropop cut named after the 2010 video game, in order to give the album further cohesion.


text: The final three tracks have titles that form a sentence: "Listen Before I Go, I Love You, Goodbye". In an interview with "Vulture", O'Connell stated that his sister "liked the readability of that" before adding that "they are [related]" since they are "different sentiments about a farewell". The three songs are placed at the end of the album so as to avoid an abrupt ending to the album. "Listen Before I Go" is an ambient song that features a gentle piano accompaniment and jazz influences while Eilish sings from the perspective of someone about to commit suicide, with faint street noises and sirens added at the beginning and end of the track for ambience. The following track, "I Love You", is similar in aesthetic and uses a sample of an airline attendant talking and a plane taking off. O'Connell has described the song as being about how "it sucks to be in love sometimes," while its chorus has drawn comparisons to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", which have pleased the songwriter. The final song, "Goodbye", features a line of each of the album's tracks (with the exception of "!!!!!!!") in its lyrics in reverse order compared with how they appear in the album, beginning with a line from "I Love You" and ending with a line from "Bad Guy", with clips from these songs layered quietly in reverse as a motif representing when "you grow up listening to a tape and at the end, you reverse the tape to go back to the beginning of the song."


text: The cover artwork for "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" was photographed by Kenneth Cappello, with whom Eilish had previously collaborated for the artwork of her 2017 EP "Don't Smile at Me". After working with the singer on pictures for "her." magazine, Cappello was asked to photograph the artwork for her upcoming album. The shoot took place on Eilish's birthday in December at a studio in Los Angeles and lasted 12 hours. The singer had prepared sketches for the album cover which were inspired by the album's themes of night terrors and lucid dreaming, as well as Eilish's interest in horror films, specifically "The Babadook". Cappello told MTV News that he "knew she wanted it moody". In order for it to "feel real", Cappello added no additional lighting to the end photo so as to give the impression that "a door was opening and that was the light coming into the bedroom." He additionally shot different variations of Eilish sitting on the bed expressing a range of emotions. Eilish wore contacts to fill in her eyes completely with white. She further wished to use a minimum of additional special effects and touch-ups on the end product to retain a sense of "realness and transparency".


text: In 2018, Eilish released several singles, including "You Should See Me in a Crown" and "When the Party's Over", which would appear on the album. On January 29, 2019, the singer teased her debut album on social media for the first time, revealing its artwork and title. She also announced the release of a new single for following day at 9AM PT, which was revealed to be "Bury a Friend", alongside a music video and the album's track listing; the song became a hit for Eilish. On March 3, Eilish posted a snippet of an upcoming single named "Wish You Were Gay" in an Instagram post, alongside an announcement revealing that its release as the album's fourth single the following day at 9AM PT. A live video for the track recorded at a show in London that month was shared at the end of April. On March 16, Eilish performed as a headliner at the South by Southwest festival, singing fourteen songs including the four singles from "When We All Fall Asleep" accompanied by "elaborate videos" on a rear-end screen. Her performance was well received by critics.


text: "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" was released on March 29, 2019, alongside its fifth single "Bad Guy" and its music video. The song became a worldwide hit and among the four singles from the album to be certified multi-platinum in the US, along with "You Should See Me in a Crown", "When the Party's Over", and "Bury a Friend". "Wish You Were Gay" and "All the Good Girls Go to Hell", released on August 30 as the sixth single, were also certified platinum. "Ilomilo" was released as the seventh single on May 26, 2020. To celebrate the album's release, Eilish launched an immersive experience in partnership with Spotify, featuring several rooms that each symbolize a song from the album, with objects to smell, hear, and feel, reflecting the singer's synesthesia.


text: On April 7, 2019, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" 200 albums chart with 313,000 album-equivalent units consumed, of which 170,000 were pure album sales. The album also recorded 137,000 SEA units, which translates into 194 million on-demand audio streams for the album's songs in its first week, thus representing the third-biggest streaming week of all-time for an album by a woman. She was the eleventh artist to chart on the Billboard 200 under the age of 18. It was also the first album by a youngest female artist to top the chart in 10 years since Demi Lovato's 2009 album "Here We Go Again". It later became the first by a youngest female to spend more than a week on the top of the chart in 20 years since Britney Spears with her 1999 album "...Baby One More Time". By June 20, 2019, "When We All Fall Asleep" had sold 1,304,000 equivalent album units, of which 343,000 are pure sales.


text: In Canada, the album debuted atop the national album chart with 46,000 total consumption units. By the end of June 2019, the album had been certified double platinum in Canada and was the best-selling record of the year in the country with 174,000 equivalent album units. In the United Kingdom, it also opened at number one on the country's Official Album Chart with 48,000 combined sales, making Eilish the youngest ever solo female act to top the chart. By its fourth week of release, it was certified gold by the BPI, indicating 100,000 sold in the country. It is the sixth best-selling album of the first half of 2019 in the UK, with 200,000 combined sales. In Australia, the album entered the ARIA Albums Chart at number one, with six of its songs occupying places in the top ten of the singles chart. In doing so, Eilish broke Ed Sheeran's record with the most songs with simultaneous placement in this area of the chart. It remained at this position for seven more non-consecutive weeks and has since been certified Platinum. The album returned to number one in Australia following its Album of the Year win at the 62nd Grammy Awards.


text: Worldwide, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" had sold more than 1.2 million pure copies by December 2019, ranking as the fifth best-selling album of 2019 and third among female artists. Aided by the album's success, Eilish also ranked as the fourth best-selling artist of 2019 and second among female artists after Taylor Swift.


text: Eilish embarked on two-month tour of Europe, beginning on February 11, 2019, at , part of Kulturbrauerei in Berlin, where she performed "Bury a Friend" and "When I Was Older" for the first time in concert. The tour lasted through March 6 and included dates at Glasgow's SWG3 arena, Manchester Academy, the O Institute in Birmingham, and Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. It was later announced that she would perform a set of intimate acoustic shows at the Pryzm club in London on March 7.


text: Eilish also supported the album with a world tourthe When We All Fall Asleep Tour, which was announced in February 2019. It began in April of that year with two performances at Coachella, the first of which was universally praised by critics, some of whom hailed it as the highlight of the day despite technical difficulties regarding Vince Staples's microphone during his verse on the track "&Burn".


text: Eilish also appeared at the Groovin' the Moo festival, which took place throughout the end of April and beginning of May. Eilish was also part of the line-up of BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend on May 25 in Middlesbrough. At the Glastonbury Festival on June 30, Eilish appeared on the "Other Stage" as a warm up for British rapper Dave, backed only by her brother on keyboards, a drummer and a plain, black stage. Her slot received widespread critical acclaim, with reviewers citing her engagement with the audience and versatile performance as reasons for their praise.


text: "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" was met with widespread acclaim, with several critics praising its macabre subject matter, cohesiveness, and Eilish and O'Connell's songwriting abilities. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album has an average score of 82, based on 21 reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.


text: Reviewing in March 2019 for "The Daily Telegraph", Neil McCormick praised the album's lyrical content and wide range of musical influences, writing that "it sounds modern and old fashioned at the same time." "NME" reviewer Thomas Smith opined that it "ticks all the boxes for a memorable and game-changing debut album" and applauded its fun and original qualities. Matt Bobkin of "Exclaim!" remarked that the record displayed "a bold artistic vision and a willingness to move beyond the boundaries of pop conventions" and praised O'Connell's production as "meticulous". Writing for "Pitchfork", Stacey Anderson credited "When We All Fall Asleep"'s success to Eilish's "creepy eccentricity" which "helps distance her from the music industry's historically lewd maceration of teen idols." Christopher Thiessen of "Consequence of Sound" praised the album's "impressive cohesiveness and emotional engagement", and claimed that its production "perfectly complements" Eilish's vocals. "The Guardian"'s Laura Snapes echoed these sentiments, additionally characterizing O'Connell's production as "compellingly nasty". Speculating as to the album's broader cultural impact, Kenneth Womack wrote for "Salon" in May that the singer has "staked her claim as the reigning queen of electropop" and "the new pop intelligentsia". While crediting O'Connell's production for elevating the "seamless storytelling", Womack said the album presents "a place that exists entirely within the miniature aural world" and is "like no place you've ever been before. Why? Because Eilish hadn't invented it yet."


text: A number of critics applauded Eilish's ability to discuss the sentiments of her generation. "Q" writer Dorian Lynskey characterized the release as a "surprising, haunting album" that "will speak powerfully both to her peers and to anyone who remembers how youth can sometimes feel like an overwhelming weight." Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic named the singer "an avatar for an audience that deals with similar mental health struggles and growing pains", and suggested that the album pointed to "a bright future that could truly go in any direction, as messy and hopeful as youth can get." However, Chris Willman of "Variety" quipped that "you don't have to be under 21, or 71, to delight in real-dealness when you hear it," having dubbed Eilish "the real deal". Will Hodgkinson, writing for "The Times", commended the record's assured nature and added that it "captures one of those rare moments when an artist knows exactly how her audience feels because she feels the same way too."


text: A few reviewers expressed reservations. Jason Lipshutz from "Billboard" deemed the album "often thrilling" despite, even due to, the "flaws ... intrinsic to its creator's truth" as listeners can hear Eilish is experimenting and "still figuring out what's in her bag of tricks". Roisin O'Connor was more critical in "The Independent", panning its production as "subpar" and the record as "dull and bloated" overall.


text: At the end of 2019, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" appeared on numerous lists of the year's top albums. According to Metacritic, it was the third most frequently ranked album in the top 10 of year-end lists. Several critics and publications ranked it number one, including veteran music critic Robert Christgau, who also named it the fourth-best album of the 2010s and said of Eilish, "No teenager I can recall has ever made such an impressive album, though I guess Elvis's "Sun Sessions" gets an asterisk, and who knows what will become of her?"


text: At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in January 2020, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" won Eilish and O'Connell Grammy Awards in the categories of Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, while "Bad Guy" won them awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Eilish also received a Grammy for Best New Artist, and Finneas won for Producer of the Year and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical (as one of the album's engineers). With her feat, Eilish became the second recording artist and first woman to win the ceremony's four major categoriesAlbum of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artistfor the same year.


title: Seo Ji-hye

text: Seo Ji-hye (; born August 24, 1984) is a South Korean actress. After first attracting attention in the horror film "Voice", Seo has since starred in numerous television dramas, notably "Shin Don" (2005), "Over the Rainbow" (2006), "I Love You" (2008), "Chunja's Happy Events" (2008), "49 Days" (2011), "The Moon and Stars for You" (2012) and "Punch" (2014), "Don't Dare to Dream" (2016), "Surgeons" (2018), "Crash Landing on You" (2019), and "Dinner Mate" (2020).


The United Nations Security Council veto power is the power of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) to veto any "substantive" resolution. They also happen to be the nuclear-weapon states (NWS) under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. However, a permanent member's abstention or absence does not prevent a draft resolution from being adopted. This veto power does not apply to "procedural" votes, as determined by the permanent members themselves. A permanent member can also block the selection of a Secretary-General, although a formal veto is unnecessary since the vote is taken behind closed doors.


title: United Nations Security Council veto power

text: The veto power is controversial. Supporters regard it as a promoter of international stability, a check against military interventions, and a critical safeguard against United States domination. Critics say that the veto is the most undemocratic element of the UN, as well as the main cause of inaction on war crimes and crimes against humanity, as it effectively prevents UN action against the permanent members and their allies.


text: Chapter VI and Article 52 only involve Security Council recommendations, and not binding resolutions (which are under Chapter VII), thus ensuring that the permanent members have veto power over all UN sanctions and all UN peacekeeping operations.


text: A negative vote from any of the permanent members will block the adoption of a draft resolution. However, a permanent member that abstains or is absent from the vote will not block a resolution from being passed.


text: Although the "power of veto" is not mentioned by name in the UN Charter, Article 27 requires concurring votes from the permanent members. For this reason, the "power of veto" is also referred to as the principle of "great power unanimity" and the veto itself is sometimes referred to as the "great power veto".


text: The idea of a veto over the actions of international organisations was not new in 1945. In the League of Nations, every member of the League Council had a veto on any non-procedural issue. At the foundation of the League, there were 4 permanent and 4 non-permanent members. The League Council had expanded by 1936 to have 4 permanent and 11 non-permanent members, which meant that there were 15 countries with veto power. The existence of such a large number of vetoes made it very difficult for the League to agree on many issues.


text: The veto was the result of extensive discussion during the negotiations for the formation of the United Nations at Dumbarton Oaks (August–October 1944) and Yalta (February 1945). The veto provision became known as the Yalta formula. The evidence is that the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and China all favored the principle of unanimity, not only out of desire for the major powers to act together, but also to protect their own sovereign rights and national interests. Harry S. Truman, who became President of the United States in April 1945, wrote: "All our experts, civil and military, favored it, and without such a veto no arrangement would have passed the Senate."


text: As the precise limits of the veto power were seen as ambiguous, the voting formula subcommittee presented a formal questionnaire to the sponsoring members (US, UK, USSR, and China) containing 22 questions on how they interpreted the veto power. They responded with a 10-point statement ("Statement by the Delegations of the Four Sponsoring Governments on Voting Procedure in the Security Council"), also called the San Francisco Declaration, which France later joined as well. The statement says that a veto cannot be used to stop the Council from considering a topic at all, but interpreted its applicability broadly, including that the veto power could be exercised in the question of whether an issue is procedural or non-procedural. This has been called a "double veto" as it involves initiating a vote on whether an issue is procedural, using a veto to force it to be termed non-procedural, and then using a second veto on the issue itself. As the other countries disagreed with this interpretation, it was not adopted into the Charter, and it is unclear whether the San Francisco Declaration is formally binding. The permissibility of a double veto has never been resolved, but the permanent members later reached an informal agreement to avoid using it, and it has not been used since 1959.


text: A central goal of the United Nations at its founding was to make sure the five Great Powers would continue working with the UN, in order to avoid the lack of universality that had diminished the political strength of the League of Nations. At San Francisco, the Big Five made it clear that there would be no United Nations if they were not given the veto. Francis O. Wilcox, an adviser to the US delegation, described the dramatic negotiations: "At San Francisco, the issue was made crystal clear by the leaders of the Big Five: it was either the Charter with the veto or no Charter at all. Senator Connally [from the US delegation] dramatically tore up a copy of the Charter during one of his speeches and reminded the small states that they would be guilty of that same if they opposed the unanimity principle. 'You may, if you wish,' he said, 'go home from this Conference and say that you have defeated the veto. But what will be your answer when you are asked: "Where is the Charter"?


text: The veto only applies to votes that come before the United Nations Security Council, so the United Nations General Assembly is unaffected.


text: From Article 27(3), both elected and permanent members must abstain from certain votes about issues where they are among the interested parties. The specific language was a compromise between the idea that one should not be able to pass judgement on their own actions, and the principle that the Security Council should not act against its permanent members. However, there are no clear guidelines about how to establish when the requirements are met, and its application has been inconsistent.


text: In 1950, the General Assembly adopted the "Uniting for Peace" resolution, which was backed by the United States as a safeguard against potential vetoes by the USSR. It has been argued that with the adoption of this resolution, and given the interpretations of the Assembly's powers that became customary international law as a result, that the Security Council "power of veto" problem could be surmounted. By adopting A/RES/377 A, on 3 November 1950, over two-thirds of UN Member States declared that, according to the UN Charter, the permanent members cannot and should not prevent the General Assembly from taking any and all action necessary to restore international peace and security in cases where the Security Council has failed to exercise its "primary responsibility" for maintaining peace. Such an interpretation sees the General Assembly as being awarded "final responsibility"—rather than "secondary responsibility"—for matters of international peace and security, by the UN Charter. Various official and semi-official UN reports make explicit reference to the Uniting for Peace resolution as providing a mechanism for the General Assembly to overrule any Security Council vetoes, thus rendering them little more than delays in UN action, should two-thirds of the Assembly subsequently agree that action is necessary. In 1956, the resolution was used to help resolve the Suez Crisis. When invoked, it creates an emergency special session of the General Assembly. , the procedure has been invoked 11 times.


text: There are a number of possible reforms to the Security Council that could affect the veto. Proposals include: limiting the use of the veto to vital national security issues; requiring agreement from multiple states before exercising the veto; abolishing the veto entirely; and embarking on the transition stipulated in Article 106 of the Charter, which requires the consensus principle to stay in place.


text: The use of the veto has gone through several distinct phases, reflecting the shifting political balance on the Security Council. From 1946 to 1969, a majority of the Security Council was aligned with the United States, which cast no vetoes because it won every vote. To block resolutions from the Western majority, the Soviet Union cast of all the vetoes. France and the United Kingdom occasionally used the veto to protect their colonial interests, and the Republic of China only used the veto once.


text: The Western majority eroded through the 1960s as decolonization expanded the membership of the United Nations. The newly independent countries of the Third World frequently voted against the Western powers, which led the United States to resort to the veto. After the first United States veto in 1970, the Soviet ambassador declared, "Using your automatic majority you imposed your will on others and forced it down their throats. But times have now changed." From 1970 to 1991, The United States cast of the vetoes, sometimes joined by French and British vetoes. The Soviet Union cast fewer vetoes than any of the Western powers, and the People's Republic of China used the veto only once.


text: After the end of the Cold War, there was a brief period of harmony on the Security Council. The period from 31 May 1990 to 11 May 1993 was the longest period in the history of the UN without the use of the veto. The number of resolutions passed each year also increased. The use of the vetoes decreased after the end of the Cold War, with the rate of vetoes decreasing to less than one-third of the previous level, despite a substantial increase in the number of resolutions considered. Usage of the veto picked up in the early 21st century, most notably due to the Syrian Civil War. Since 1992, Russia has been the most frequent user of the veto, followed by the United States and China. France and the United Kingdom have not used the veto since 1989.


text: As of May 2022, Russia/USSR has used its veto 121 times, the US 82 times, the UK 29 times, China 17 times, and France 16 times. On 26 April 2022, the General Assembly adopted a resolution mandating a debate when a veto is cast in the Security Council.


text: About one-quarter of all vetoes cast have been regarding the admission of a new member to the United Nations. Initially this led to a deadlock, from 1946 to 1955, as both the Western allies and the Soviet Union prevented each others' preferred candidates from joining, which was resolved with a 1955 agreement which allowed the admission of 16 new members at once. In total, the Soviet Union used its veto 51 times to block new applications. The United States vetoed Vietnam's application six times, while China has vetoed new applications twice (Mongolia in 1955 and Bangladesh in 1972). Most countries are now members of the UN, and the last veto of a membership application was cast by the United States in 1976. However, it is still a potential source of conflict as a result of Taiwan. China has used two vetoes (in 1997 and 1999) in order to block or end UN missions in countries that engaged in diplomatic relations with Taiwan.


text: The Secretary-General of the United Nations is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. Therefore, the veto power can be used to block the selection of a Secretary-General. Since 1981, the Security Council has selected the Secretary-General through series of straw polls. A vote by a permanent member to "discourage" a candidate is considered equivalent to a veto. The formal recommendation of a Secretary-General is approved unanimously by acclamation. Although the identity of the vetoing permanent member is usually known, the veto does not go on the record as a formal veto of a Security Council Resolution.


text: Every permanent member has vetoed at least one candidate for Secretary-General. The United States circumvented a Soviet veto in 1950 by asking the General Assembly to extend Trygve Lie's term without a recommendation from the Security Council. However, every Secretary-General since 1953 has been recommended by a unanimous vote of the permanent members of the Security Council.


text: Ambassador Charles W. Yost cast the first US veto in 1970 over Rhodesia, and the US cast a lone veto in 1972 to block a resolution that condemned Israel for war against Syria and Lebanon. Since then, the United States has been the most frequent user of the veto power, mainly on resolutions criticising and condemning Israel; since 2002, the United States has applied the Negroponte doctrine to veto most resolutions relating to the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This has been a constant cause of friction between the General Assembly and the Security Council. On 23 December 2016, the Obama administration abstained on a resolution calling for an end to Israeli settlements, the first time that the United States has. However, the United States resumed the use of the veto in the Trump administration.


text: Between 1946 and 1971, the Chinese seat on the Security Council was held by the Republic of China, whose Nationalist government lost the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and fled to Taiwan, previously a Qing prefecture-turned-colony of Japan ruled from 1895 to 1945. China first used the veto on 13 December 1955 to block Mongolia's admission to the United Nations because the ROC government considered the entirety of Outer Mongolia (including the present Russian republic of Tuva) to be part of China. This postponed the admission of Mongolia until 1961, when the Soviet Union announced that it would block all further admissions of new members unless Mongolia were admitted. Faced with this pressure, the Republic of China relented under protest.


text: In 1971, the Republic of China was expelled from the United Nations, and the Chinese seat was transferred to the People's Republic of China. The PRC's first use of its veto and the second as China took place on 25 August 1972 to block Bangladesh's admission to the United Nations. From 1971 to 2011, China used its veto sparingly, preferring to abstain rather than veto resolutions not directly related to Chinese interests. China turned abstention into an "art form", abstaining on 30% of Security Council Resolutions between 1971 and 1976. Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, China has joined Russia in many double vetoes. China has not cast a lone veto since 1999.


text: In the early days of the United Nations, the Soviet Union was responsible for almost all of the vetoes. Because of their frequent vetoes, Soviet ambassador Andrei Gromyko earned the nickname "Mr. Nyet" and Vyacheslav Molotov was known as "Mr. Veto". Molotov regularly vetoed the admission of new members to counter the US refusal to admit members of the Eastern Bloc. The impasse was finally resolved on 14 December 1955 when 16 countries from the Western and Eastern Blocs were simultaneously admitted to the UN.


text: The Soviet government adopted an "empty chair" policy at the Security Council in January 1950 to protest the fact that the Republic of China still held the Chinese seat at the United Nations. The Soviet Union was not present in the Security Council to veto UN Security Council Resolutions 83 (27 June 1950) and 84 (7 July 1950), authorizing assistance to South Korea in the Korean War. The Soviet Union returned to the Security Council in August 1950 and resumed its usage of the veto.


text: Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation used its veto power sparingly. However, Russian vetoes became more common in the early 21st century to block resolutions on conflicts with Russian military involvement, including Georgia, Syria and Ukraine.


text: France uses its veto power sparingly. The only time it unilaterally vetoed a draft was in 1976 to block a resolution on the question of the independence of the Comoros, which was done to keep the island of Mayotte as a French overseas community. It also vetoed, along with UK, a resolution calling on the immediate cessation of military action by the Israeli army against Egypt in 1956 during the Suez Crisis. France has not used the veto since 1989, when it joined the United States and United Kingdom to veto a resolution condemning the United States invasion of Panama. In 2003, the threat of a French veto of resolution on the impending invasion of Iraq caused friction between France and the United States.


text: The United Kingdom has used its Security Council veto power on 32 occasions. The first occurrence was in October 1956 when the United Kingdom and France vetoed a letter from the US to the President of the Security Council concerning Palestine. The most recent was in December 1989 when the United Kingdom, France and the United States vetoed a draft resolution condemning the United States invasion of Panama.


text: The United Kingdom used its veto power, along with France, to veto a draft resolution aimed at resolving the Suez Canal crisis (in which France and UK were militarily involved) in 1956. The UK and France eventually withdrew from Egypt after the US instigated an 'emergency special session' of the General Assembly, under the terms of the "Uniting for Peace" resolution, which led to the establishment of the United Nations Emergency Force I (UNEF I), by the adoption of Assembly resolution 1001. The UK also used its veto seven times in relation to Rhodesia from 1963 to 1973, five of these occasions were unilateral; the only occasions on which the UK has used its veto power unilaterally.


text: The veto power has been criticized for its undemocratic nature. A single country can prevent a majority of the Security Council from taking any action. For example, the United States routinely casts lone vetoes of resolutions criticizing Israel. The permanent members also veto resolutions that criticize their own actions. In 2014, Russia vetoed a resolution condemning its annexation of Crimea. Amnesty International claimed that the five permanent members had used their veto to "promote their political self interest or geopolitical interest above the interest of protecting civilians."


text: Some critics see veto power exclusive to the permanent five as being anachronistic, unjust, or counterproductive. Peter Nadin writes that "The veto is an anachronism ... In the twenty-first century, the veto has come to be almost universally seen as a disproportionate power and an impediment to credible international action to crises." The "enormous influence of the veto power" has been cited as a cause of the UN's ineffectiveness in preventing and responding to genocide, violence, and human rights violations. Various countries outside the permanent members, such as the Non-Aligned Movement and African Union, have proposed limitations on the veto power. Reform of the veto power is often included in proposals for reforming the Security Council.


text: The veto has been used to protect allies of the permanent members, and to prevent or stall UN peacekeeping or peace enforcement operations. The threat of using a veto (also called a "hidden" or "pocket" veto) may still have an effect even if a veto is not actually cast. In 1994, the United States and France both threatened vetoes regarding the Rwandan genocide which prevented the UN from undertaking an effective intervention, while in 1998–99 Russia and China threatened vetoes to prevent UN intervention against the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, and again in 2004 to prevent intervention in the Darfur genocide.


text: Justifications for the veto are usually based in the interests of the permanent members and the idea that peace and security is only possible if the great powers are all working together. At the San Francisco conference, arguments presented by the permanent members included: that the veto power was a reflection of political realities, that the United Nations would break down if it attempted to carry out enforcement actions against a permanent member, that it prevented the Security Council from making a decision that could harm relations between the permanent members, and that their privileged status was linked to a responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. According to one author, there were four reasons evident at the conference: "1) unanimity was considered indispensable for peace; 2) permanent members needed to protect their national interests; 3) the need to protect minority blocs from over-dominating majority coalitions; and 4) the desire to prevent rash Security Council resolutions." In 1993, Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans wrote that the veto was established to ensure that the United Nations did not commit to things it would be unable to follow through on due to great power opposition.


text: Supporters regard the veto as an important safeguard in international relations. Thomas G. Weiss and Giovanna Kuele called it "a variation on the Hippocratic Oath: UN decisions should do no harm." Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the "profound wisdom" of the founders of the United Nations, referring to the veto power as the underpinning of international stability. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi lauded its "important role in checking the instinct of war."


title: Ford Transit

text: 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. , 8 million Transit vans have been sold, making it the third best-selling van of all time and has been produced across four basic platform generations (debuting in 1965, 1986, 2000, and 2013 respectively), with various "facelift" versions of each.


title: Ford Transit

text: 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.


title: Ford Transit

text: 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.


title: Ford Transit

text: Predecessor of the British and German-built Transit, the first production Ford to wear the "Transit" badge was a van built in Ford's Cologne plant in Germany. It was introduced in 1953 as FK 1000 (carrying 1,000 kg) with a 1.2-litre inline-four engine from the contemporary Taunus. In 1955 the engine capacity was enlarged to 1.5 litres. From 1961, this vehicle was called the Ford Taunus Transit. Production of this model ceased in 1965.


title: Ford Transit

text: On 9 May 1945, the day after the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht in the Second World War, production at the German Ford-Werke AG in Cologne (Köln) resumed. Because the production of civilian cars in the occupied zone was reserved for the British (for instance for Ford of Britain), Ford-Werke AG limited itself to the production of trucks (until 1948). Those trucks based on the slightly modified war models V 3000 S, B 3000 S und V 3000 A as they were already produced before and during the Second World War in the Ford production facilities in the Third Reich. Those trucks were now called "Rhein" and "Ruhr".


title: Ford Transit

text: At that time neither Ford of Britain nor Ford Werke AG were 100% subsidiaries of Ford Motor Company in Detroit and before the Second World War each company had its own more or less protected market. Until Germany declared war on the US in December 1941, almost half of the shares of the Ford-Werke AG were in German hands, as well as its production sites were managed by the Reich Commissioner for the Treatment of Hostile Property - Johannes Krohn. Just as Ford also had to comply with the type restrictions of the Schell-Plan, which were introduced in March 1939 in anticipation of the war.


title: Ford Transit

text: After the war, several economical boundaries were abolished and local markets did not exist anymore in the same way that they existed before. With this, Ford of Britain and Ford-Werke AG suddenly became more competitive on the whole European Continent than local market subsidiaries of their parent company in Detroit.


title: Ford Transit

text: In 1951 Ford Werke AG launched the FK commercial vehicle series, FK standing for Ford Köln, with different-sized vehicles (FK2000 with 2 tons payload, FK3000 with 3 tons payload, FK3500 with 3,5 tons payload, etc.). The FK series was successor of the "Rhein" and "Ruhr" trucks. In 1953, the FK series were rounded off with the light delivery van FK1000/FK1250 (1ton/1,25tons payload), in competition to the Volkswagen Type 2 VW Bus, the DKW Type F89L "Schnellaster" or the Vidal & Sohn Tempo Matador.


title: Ford Transit

text: As usual in the Anglo-Saxon countries in those days, Ford's marketing experts attached more importance to the model/series designation than to the "Ford" label as a brand. Rumors that Ford banned the German Ford-Werke AG from using the Ford logo and instead introduced the Taunus brand are untenable. Also most British Ford products had no Ford emblem.


title: Ford Transit

text: The commercial vehicles produced at Ford-Werke AG were marketed with the FK logo, while the passenger cars produced from 1948 onwards were offered under the name Taunus referring to the re-produced pre-war model Ford Taunus G93A.


title: Ford Transit

text: Due to continental European habits, the original series and model designations "FK" and Taunus mutated into real brands, each with its own emblem and different models, comparable with Daimler Benz Mercedes models or General Motors Opel models.


title: Ford Transit

text: The FK emblem consists of two slightly overlapping ovals with the "F" from the well-known Ford emblem in the first and a "K" in the same font in the second oval. The Taunus emblem first depicted the Cologne Cathedral; from 1953 on until its discontinuation in 1967, Cologne's city flag inspired the Taunus emblem.


title: Ford Transit

text: In 1961, Ford discontinued the entire truck production in Germany and took the FK brand off the market due to serious defects and therefore strongly decreasing demand.


title: Ford Transit

text: The van FK1000/FK1250, not affected by these defects due to its completely different construction-design, continued to sell well and was now offered under the successful Taunus brand with the model name Transit in addition to the cars Taunus 12M/15M and the Taunus 17M. A comparable program to Volkswagen, that offered its vehicles VW Beetle, VW 1500 and VW Bus the same way on the continental European market. The "new" Transit Taunus van was now labelled with the Transit model name (instead of the FK logo) in big chrome letters and a big "Taunus" emblem as well as a small Taunus lettering which was also mounted on the back of the vehicle. New, however, was a small Ford logo underneath the right B-column.


title: Ford Transit

text: From 1957 onwards, with the launch of the Ford Thames 400E by Ford of Britain, the situation arose that Ford, together with the FK1000/FK1250 by Ford Werke AG, was now present on the continental European markets with two competing products. For example, the British Ford Thames 400E was also assembled and improved as a left-hand drive version in the Ford assembly plants in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as the German FK1000 was assembled in Azambuja, Portugal, too. In the French, Spanish, Italian, Swiss, Benelux and Scandinavian markets, both products were found. This turned out to be disadvantageous and cost-intensive especially after the fall of various trade barriers within the newly founded EEC.


title: Ford Transit

text: For this reason, such a situation with internal competition and parallel developments was very unsatisfactory for the Ford headquarters in Detroit. The aim was to not only standardize the vehicle production (world car), but also merge the company structures in Europe.


title: Ford Transit

text: Under parent's dictate, Ford of Britain and Ford-Werke AG started the "Redcap-Project" in the commercial vehicle sector in 1963, from which the Ford Transit was launched in 1965, based on a new unified platform.


title: Ford Transit

text: Two years later in 1967, Ford of Britain and Ford-Werke AG merged to Ford of Europe with the headquarters in Cologne, Germany. The brand Taunus was taken off the market. Ford forced the standardization of platforms and even model-names overall European market under the Ford brand and logo. After the Ford Transit in 1965, a second unified platform (Ford Escort) was launched in 1967. With the discontinuation of the Ford Zephyr (British) and Ford P7 (German) 1972 all Ford platforms for the European market are unified. Since 1994 (discontinuation of the Ford Granada name) even the Ford model-names are the same for the European market.


title: Ford Transit

text: The German vehicle was not widely exported, and the "Mark 1" tag has commonly been applied, retrospectively, to the 1965 to 1978 British model (see below). Whilst there have only been four basic platforms since 1965, the various facelifts and upgrades over the years have been referred to using a conflicting range of "Mark" numbers, with some sources counting a facelift as a new "Mark", some not. Ford's own historical look back at Transit production, published for the launch of the 1994 model, avoids the issue by referring to generations of Transit by years produced. This article attempts to make mention of all the common naming systems.


title: Ford Transit

text: The first generation Transit, or the Transit Mark I in the United Kingdom, was introduced in October 1965, taking over directly from the Thames 400E. This generation had the longest production run of any Transit to date, staying largely unaltered for 12 years until the major facelift of 1978, with overall production lasting for over 20 years before finally being replaced by the all-new VE6 platform in 1986.


title: Ford Transit

text: The van was produced initially at Ford's Langley facility in Berkshire, England (a former Second World War aircraft factory which had produced Hawker Hurricane fighters), but demand outstripped the capability of the plant, and production was moved to Southampton until closure in 2013 in favour of the factory at İzmit, Turkey.


title: Ford Transit

text: Transits were also produced in Ford's Genk factory in Belgium and also Turkey. Transits were produced in Amsterdam for the local market from the mid-1970s until the end of 1981. This factory had ample capacity, since the Ford Transcontinental produced there had little success (total production 8000 in 6 years). Although the Transit sold well in the Netherlands, it was not enough to save the factory, which closed in December 1981.


title: Ford Transit

text: The Transit was introduced to replace the Ford Thames 400E, a small mid-engined forward control van noted for its narrow track which was in competition with similar-looking but larger vehicles from the BMC J4 and J2 vans and Rootes Group's Commer PB ranges. In a UK market segment then dominated by the Bedford CA, Ford's Thames competitor, because of its restricted load area, failed to attract fleet users in sufficient numbers. Ford switched to a front-engined configuration, as did Bedford with their well-regarded CA series vans in the 1950s. Henry Ford II's revolutionary step was to combine the engineering efforts of Ford of Britain and Ford of Germany to create a prototype for the Ford of Europe of today—previously the two subsidiaries had avoided competing in one another's domestic markets but had been direct competitors in other European markets.


title: Ford Transit

text: The Transit was a departure from the European commercial vehicles of the day with its American-inspired styling—its broad track gave it a huge advantage in carrying capacity over comparable vehicles of the day. Most of the Transit's mechanical components were adapted from Ford's car range of the time. Another key to the Transit's success was the sheer number of different body styles: panel vans in long and short wheelbase forms, pick-up truck, minibuses, crew-cabs to name but a few.


title: Ford Transit

text: The engines used in the UK were the Essex V4 for the petrol-engined version in 1.7 L and 2.0 L capacities. By using relatively short V-4 engines Ford were able to minimise the additional length necessitated to place the engine ahead of the driver. Another popular development under the bonnet was the equipping of the van with an alternator at time when the UK market competitors expected buyers to be content with a dynamo. A diesel engine sourced from Perkins was also offered. As this engine was too long to fit under the Transit's stubby nose, the diesel version featured a longer bonnet - which became nicknamed as the "pig snout". The underpowered Perkins proved unpopular, and was replaced by Ford's own York unit in 1972. For mainland Europe the Transit had the German Ford Taunus V4 engine in Cologne 1.3, 1.5, and 1.7- or Essex 2.0-litre versions. The diesel version's long nose front was also used to accommodate the Ford 3.0 L Ford Essex V6 engine (UK) for high performance applications such as vans supplied to police and ambulance services. In Australia, in 1973, to supplement the two Essex V4 engines that were available the Transit was released with the long-nose diesel front used to accommodate an inline 6-cylinder engine derived from the Ford Falcon.


title: Ford Transit

text: The Metropolitan Police reported on this vehicle in 1972 via a Scotland Yard spokesman that "Ford Transits are used in 95 per cent of bank raids. With the performance of a car, and space for 1.75 tonnes of loot, the Transit is proving to be the perfect getaway vehicle", describing it as "Britain's most wanted van".


title: Ford Transit

text: The adoption of a front beam axle in place of a system incorporating independent front suspension that had featured on its UK predecessor might have been seen as a backward step by some, but on the road commentators felt that the Transit's wider track and longer wheelbase more than compensated for the apparent step backwards represented by Ford's suspension choices. Drivers appreciated the elimination of the excessive noise, smell and cabin heat that resulted from placing the driver above or adjacent to the engine compartment in the Thames 400E and other forward control light vans of the 1950s and early 1960s.


title: Ford Transit

text: The Transit was also assembled in South Africa between 1967 and 1974, the last Transit to be sold in that country until 2013, when a fully imported model was introduced.


title: Ford Transit

text: In August 1977, a facelifted version—codenamed within Ford as the "Transit "—but usually referred to as the Transit Mark II, debuted with a restyled, longer nose section which could now properly accommodate an in-line engine in place of the Essex and Cologne V4s - therefore the Pinto engine from the Cortina became the Transit's dominant power unit. Many fleet owners experienced premature camshaft wear in early Pinto units in the Cortina and for two years the Transit 75 was available with the 1.6 L Ford Kent cross-flow engine. High-performance versions intended for police or ambulance service used the 3.0 L V6 version of the Essex engine, Australian variants had 4.1 L (250 cu in) inline 6-cylinder engines, from September 1978. The 3.0 was also available in some heavier duty models. The new frontal styling brought the Transit back into line with the rest of Ford of Europe's passenger car range of the period with square headlamps and the black louvred grille, although the rear styling remained unaltered. The rather spartan metal dashboard of the Mk1 with its single instrument binnacle was replaced with a full width plastic fascia with a more comprehensive instrument cluster and switchgear taken from the Taunus/Cortina Mk.4.


title: Ford Transit

text: In 1984, the York diesel engine was redesigned into the 2.5 L "DI" (direct injection) unit. At this time this generation received a minor facelift including a grey plastic front grille with integrated headlamp surrounds, wraparound indicators, longer bumper end caps and multifunction rear lights incorporating fog, indicator, reversing and side lights for the panel van. This facelift did not commonly result in a new "Mark" number.


title: Ford Transit

text: The Mark II was available in 6 body styles: Van, Kombi, Chassis Cab, Parcel Van, Bus and Crewbus all available in short-wheelbase (2690 mm) and long-wheelbase (3000 mm) versions. A selection of 5 engines was available: 1.6-litre OHC Petrol, 1.6-litre OHV Petrol (Kent), 2.0-litre OHC Petrol, 2.0-litre OHC Petrol (Economy) and 2.4-litre Diesel. On top of this were 32 door combinations, 6 axle ratios and options for 12 – 17 interior seats. All of these were available in any combination when purchased with Ford's highly customizable custom plan. At the time this gave the business sector an unprecedented amount of flexibility, which was a major factor in the vehicles' ultimate success.


title: Ford Transit

text: In 1981, for mainland European market only, the Transit Clubmobil was introduced by the Hymer company. This was fitted with a 1.6 / 2.0 OHC engine, and featured a custom interior – captain style swivel seats in velour, pile carpet, motorsport steering wheel, unique Ronal 14" alloy wheels, unique side windows, folding back seat, luggage box, unique front spoiler, tinted glass, power assisted steering, spare wheel carrier and rear door ladder. In 3 years of production 150 were produced and less than 20 are thought to still exist.


title: Ford Transit

text: In late 1982 the well-equipped Transit Ghia was introduced to some markets, only as a nine-seater bus. This offered a velour interior, full carpeting, tinted windows, and sunroof. Externally it can be identified by chrome dog-dish hubcaps and extra lamps in the grille.


title: Ford Transit

text: In 1982 a four-wheel drive version was added to the German market, called the SIRA-Ford Transit. This was developed together with Rau GmbH, a Ford dealer in Stuttgart. "SIRA" combines "Sinpar" and "Rau" because Rau was the agent for French four-wheel-drive specialist Sinpar in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The SIRA Transit used a Sinpar transfer case and other parts, and was available with the 2-liter petrol four or the 2.4-liter Diesel, on either wheelbase. The 4x4 Transit was later offered in other markets as well.


title: Ford Transit

text: Codenamed "VE6", the second generation Transit platform appeared in January 1986 and was notable for its all-new bodyshell which was of "one-box" design ("i.e." the windscreen and bonnet are at close to the same angle), and the front suspension was changed to a fully independent configuration on SWB versions. Initially fitted with Chubb AVA locks, Tibbe barrels were fitted soon after. The engine range was carried over largely unchanged from the last of the 1978–1985 Mk.1 facelift model, although in 1989 the high-performance 3.0 Essex V6 petrol was replaced by the Cologne 2.9 EFI V6, mainly because of emissions regulations as the Essex V6 design was nearly 25 years old by then and still used a carburettor. The third generation Transit was developed under the "Triton" code name.


title: Ford Transit

text: A subtle facelift in 1992 saw the fully independent front suspension adopted across the range, whilst a redesigned floor plan allowed the use of single, rather than paired, rear wheels on the LWB derivative, further increasing payload—these models are identifiable by the slightly more rounded front headlamps. In Australia, the third generation Transit did not go on sale until March 1994, after a 13-year absence from that market.


title: Ford Transit

text: A major facelift to the Transit in 1994 gave the Transit a new nose and dashboard, along with the 2.0 L DOHC 8-valve engine as found in the 1994 to 1998 Ford Scorpio. It is similar to the earlier Sierra DOHC unit but without the distributor and uses the updated OBD II-compliant EEC-V level engine control unit. Some of Ford's 16-valve engines, such as those found in the Scorpio, Escort RS2000 and Galaxy were also based on this block. At the same time air conditioning, electric windows, central locking, electric mirrors and airbags were all made available as optional extras.


title: Ford Transit

text: In 1994, a campervan conversion produced by Auto-Sleepers converted in Willersey, Gloucestershire, known as the Auto-Sleepers Duetto was available. It was available with the high-top roof.


title: Ford Transit

text: For the 30th anniversary of the Transit in 1995 Ford released a limited edition model called the Transit Hallmark. Six hundred were made and were available in three colours with 200 being made in each.


title: Ford Transit

text: In Europe the VE83 Transit was available up to 2000, but in Vietnam it was built up to 2003 when it was exchanged in June for the new generation.


title: Ford Transit

text: Introduced in 2006, the Ford Transit VJX6541DK-M is a license-built version of the Transit assembled by Jiangling Motors (JMC) in Nanchang. Produced solely for the Chinese domestic market, it was derived from the second-generation VE6/VE83/VE94 platform. Over its Ford predecessor produced from 1986 to 2000, JMC made 70 major updates to the design. The exterior was distinguished by revision to the front fascia, including larger front headlamps and a redesigned grille and front bumper. The interior saw several ergonomic improvements, along with the standardization of power windows. ABS was offered as an option. The top speed is specified at .


title: Ford Transit

text: Sharing its underpinnings with the second-generation Transit, the JMC-built Transit differed substantially in its powertrain configuration. In place of Ford produced engines, the model line used a 92 kW Mitsubishi-produced 2.4L inline-4. Two Isuzu-produced 2.8L inline-4 diesels were offered; a naturally aspirated version offering 67.6 kW-68 kW and a turbocharged, intercooled version, offering 80–85 kW.


title: Ford Transit

text: In 2008, Ford commenced sales of the V347/V348 Transit in China alongside its JMC-produced counterpart, branded the Ford-produced van as the "New Transit" and the JMC van as the "Transit Classic". Between the two manufacturers, a combined 210,000 examples of both generations were sold in China; in 2012, Ford expanded operations, allowing production capacity to expand to 300,000 vehicles. In January 2010, the Toyota recalls affected the Transit Classic, as Ford/JMC utilized the same supplier of accelerator pedals (CTS Corporation), suspecting the units were defective and posed a risk of unintended acceleration. Approximately 1600 Ford Transit Classics in China were affected by the recall.


title: Ford Transit

text: Starting from May 2017, Jiangling Motors replaced the license-built Ford Transit with the JMC Teshun range of vans. While sharing much of its body with its predecessor, the Teshun underwent a redesign of the front fascia with a larger front bumper and grille. The interior underwent an update to the dashboard, along with the introduction of a front bench seating configuration.


title: Ford Transit

text: Retaining the VE83 platform of the second-generation Transit, the gasoline Teshun is offered with a Mitsubishi-produced 136 hp(200N·m) 2.4L inline-4 (Engine code: 4G69S4N) and the diesel Teshun offered with an Jiangling-produced 116 hp(285N·m) 2.8L Turbo-diesel inline-4 (Engine code: JX493ZLQ, an engine modified by the Isuzu 4JB1 engine); both engines are paired with a 5-speed manual transmission.


title: Ford Transit

text: In August 2021, a facelift of Teshun was unveiled, updates include a redesign of the front fascia, grille, headlamps, and front bumper. The rear of the car has not changed. In terms of power, the 2.4-liter gasoline engine was removed. The original 2.8L turbo-diesel inline-4 engine has been upgraded to increase the output to 122hp (300N·m).


title: Ford Transit

text: The Transit, introduced in July 2000, was the third all-new design, and borrowed styling cues from Ford's "New Edge" designs, like the Focus and Ka. Developed by Ford in the United States, the main innovation is that it is available in either front- or rear-wheel drive. Ford nomenclature makes this the V184 (rear-wheel-drive) or V185 (front-wheel-drive) model. This model features the "Puma"-type Duratorq turbo diesel engine also used in the 2000 Mondeo and Jaguar X-Type, with the petrol versions moving up to the 2.3 L 16-Valve edition of the straight-4 engine. A demonstration of this model's speed with the smallest panel van body, highest output 136PS 2.4 Duratorq turbo-diesel engine and optional 6-speed manual gearbox was shown in series 6 of "Top Gear" in 2005, where German race driver Sabine Schmitz attempted to drive it around the Nürburgring in under ten minutes, matching Jeremy Clarkson's time in a turbodiesel Jaguar S-Type; after weight reduction and aerodynamic modifications, she was only just unsuccessful, marking her fastest lap at 10m 8s.


title: Ford Transit

text: The Durashift EST automatic transmission (optional on all rear-wheel-drive models) features controls mounted on the dashboard, a specially adapted manual mode, tow-haul mode, economy mode and winter mode. This is known as the ASM (automatically shifting manual) system in the Australian market.


title: Ford Transit

text: 2002 saw the introduction of the first High Pressure Common Rail diesel engine in the Transit, with the launch of the HPCR 2.0-litre in the FWD. Production of the van started at the new Ford-Otosan plant in Kocaeli, Turkey which saw the end of all production at the Genk, Belgium plant which had been producing Transits since 1965. This coincided with the introduction of the Transit Connect (also produced in Kocaeli), a smaller panel van based on the C170 (Focus) platform and aimed at replacing the older Escort and Fiesta based models. Despite the name, the Connect has no engineering commonality with the full-size Transit.


title: Ford Transit

text: 2004 saw the launch of the first RWD HPCR, the 2.4-litre variant that also introduced the 6-speed MT-82 RWD manual gearbox.


title: Ford Transit

text: The five millionth Transit rolled off the Southampton line on Monday, 18 July 2005 and was donated to an English charity.


title: Ford Transit

text: The third-generation Transit received a facelift to the body, introduced in August 2005, including new front and rear lights, a new front end and a new interior featuring the gearstick on the dashboard and Ford's new corporate radio design. Besides the styling changes, the powertrains were revised. The old petrol engine was replaced with one from the Ford Ranger, the front-wheel-drive diesel went from 2.0 to 2.2 litres capacity, and all diesel engines gained high-pressure common rail (TDCi) systems. The powertrains were changed to meet new emissions legislation. Additionally, the facelift introduced CAN bus electronics to the Transit for the first time. The new version (Ford nomenclature V347 for front-wheel drive and V348 for rear-wheel drive) won International Van of the Year for 2007 despite tough competition from several all-new rivals. This Transit arrived in Mexico to replace the Freestar after the 2007 model year. This was the first Transit with a five-cylinder engine available (in the 3.2L 200PS version).


title: Ford Transit

text: Mid-2006 saw the launch of the "Sport Van", a production van featuring the engine with additional styling parts, "Le Mans" stripes and 18-inch alloy wheels.


title: Ford Transit

text: Late-2007 saw the launch of the engine for front-wheel-drives (replacing the 130 PS) complete with the VMT6 6-speed manual transaxle to cope with the extra power.


title: Ford Transit

text: The 6-speed transaxle was introduced on the mid-power FWD in late 2008 when the engine was upped to .


title: Ford Transit

text: In late 2008, the "coated Diesel Particulate Filter" (cDPF)—designed to meet higher emission standards than the current Euro IV requirement—was introduced as an option on all diesel engines. Production ended in 2013, with the Southampton plant closing down making this generation the last of the British built Transits, but returned in China in two modified forms.


title: Ford Transit

text: To celebrate the Transit's status as International Van of the Year 2007, Ford built a stretch limousine style van – the Transit XXL. It is a unique special that is the most expensive Transit ever made.


title: Ford Transit

text: The Ford Transit SuperSportVan was a one-off, high-performance version of the third-gen Transit built by Ford Europe. It uses a 3.2L turbocharged Duratorq I5, producing 198 horsepower, borrowed from a larger Transit model, mated to a 6-speed transmission.


title: Ford Transit

text: The third-generation Ford Transit commenced production in China in 2008 for the 2009 model year. Engine choices consisted the 2.2-litre turbo diesel, a 2.3-litre petrol for 2009 models and a 2.4-litre turbo diesel. The Transit in China was given a facelift for the 2013 model year onwards with new headlights and taillights. As of 2019, the 2.2-litre turbo diesel engine and 6 speed manual gearbox is standard across the range.


title: Ford Transit

text: During the 2020 Beijing Auto Show, a facelift named the Ford Transit Pro was unveiled featuring another facelift on the third-generation Ford Transit for the 2021 model year. The facelift features a redesigned front end and restyled tail lamps. The facelift also features updated powertrain to fulfill the National Standard VI emissions standard in China. The updated engine is a 2.2 liter diesel engine producing 190 hp and 360N·m mated to a 6-speed manual transmission.


title: Ford Transit

text: This design is also made and sold in Vietnam as the Ford Transit as of 2022. It is powered by a 2.2 liter turbodiesel engine producing 136 hp mated to a 6-speed manual transmission.


title: Ford Transit

text: In mid-2022, Jiangling Motors released the JMC Fushun based on the Transit Pro. According to the official data, the model will be equipped with a 2.0L inline-4 turbo-diesel engine (engine code: JX4D20A6H, an engine modified by the Ford ZSD-420 engine) output of 146hp (355N· m). Paired with a 6-speed manual transmission.


title: Ford Transit

text: The fourth-generation Transit was launched in January 2013 at the 2013 North American (Detroit) International Auto Show. In contrast to the previous generation developed in the United States (but never sold there), the fourth-generation Transit was co-designed by Ford of Europe and Ford in North America. After entering production for worldwide sale in 2013, the Transit entered sale in North America in 2014 as an early 2015 model.


title: Ford Transit

text: The fourth-generation Transit was the first version to be offered for sale in the United States and Canada, replacing the E-Series passenger cargo and passenger van (the E-Series remains in production as a cutaway/chassis cab). While produced since 1965 (nearly as long as the Mustang), previous generations of the Transit were excluded from North America to avoid model overlap with the Econoline/E-Series.


title: Ford Transit

text: The introduction of the fourth generation saw a transition of the Transit nameplate into a commercially-oriented sub-brand of Ford. To supplement its namesake vehicle and the Transit Connect MPV, Ford spun off the previous front-wheel drive Transit into its own model line, the Transit Custom (sized between the Transit Connect and Transit), with the Fiesta-based Transit Courier introduced in 2014 as the smallest model of the product range. The namesake of the model line, the fourth-generation Transit is marketed against the Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Fiat Ducato (and its variants), and the Volkswagen Crafter in markets worldwide.


title: Ford Transit

text: The fourth-generation Transit is offered in a rear-wheel drive powertrain layout; the front-wheel drive version of the previous generation has been replaced by the Transit Custom. The Transit van is offered in two wheelbases (129.9 inches and 147.6 inches) while the chassis cab/cutaway van is offered in three wheelbases (138 inches, 155.7, and 178 inches). As with previous-generation vans, extended-wheelbase vans were produced with either single or dual rear-wheel axles (the latter, a first for North America, which previously reserved the design for chassis/cutaway cabs).


title: Ford Transit

text: In a major change from the E-Series, the Transit uses a unibody chassis design instead of a separate frame; while no longer using a separate chassis, the high use of boron steel allowed for increase in payload capacity of up to 600 pounds (over a similar-configuration E-Series). The long-running Twin I-Beams of the E-Series were retired, as the fourth-generation Transit uses MacPherson struts for the front suspension; the live rear axle is leaf-sprung. The model line is fitted with four-wheel disc brakes.


title: Ford Transit

text: For its worldwide introduction in 2013, the fourth-generation Transit inherited the Duratorq diesel engines from the previous generation, shared with the Ranger and Mondeo. A 2.0L inline-4 was introduced (for China), shared with the 2.2L and 2.4L inline-4s (the former, for Europe and Australia; the latter, Europe); the largest engine was a 3.2L inline-5 (for markets outside South America). Gasoline engines were also offered, including a 2.0L Ecoboost inline-4 (for China) and a 2.3L Duratec inline-4.


title: Ford Transit

text: For production in the Americas, the Transit was offered with higher-displacement gasoline engines (shared with the F-Series). A 275 hp 3.7L V6 was the standard engine in North America, with a 310 hp 3.5L twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 offered in both North and South America; the 185 hp 3.2L inline-5 was offered beginning in 2015 (renamed as a Powerstroke diesel). From 2015 to 2019, all engines were paired to a 6-speed automatic transmission, replaced by a 10-speed automatic for 2020.


title: Ford Transit

text: As an option through Ford, the 3.7L engine can be converted to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied petroleum gas (propane).


title: Ford Transit

text: In a design shift, the Transit (and Transit Custom) moved from the New Edge styling of the previous generation to the "Kinetic" design language; the interior was influenced by the third-generation Ford Focus. The fourth-generation Transit as both a van and as a chassis cab/cutaway cab; the pickup truck of the previous generation has been discontinued. The van is offered in three different roof lengths and three different roof heights.


title: Ford Transit

text: In most worldwide markets, the Transit passenger van is primarily marketed under the Ford Tourneo name, with Ford using the Transit name for both cargo and passenger vans in the United States and Canada. In line with other Ford trucks in North America, the Transit is marketed in XL and XLT trims. In line with the F-Series trucks (and its E-Series predecessor), in North America, the Transit is marketed in 150/250/350 (and 350HD) payload series, determined by wheelbase, body length, and roof height.


title: Ford Transit

text: As with the E-Series and the previous generation Transit, the model line serves as the basis for multiple commercial vehicles, including ambulances, buses, and recreational vehicles.


title: Ford Transit

text: For 2020 production, the Ford Transit underwent a mid-cycle model revision, distinguished by an update of the front fascia and dashboard. In both Otosan and Claycomo-produced examples, the powertrain saw several updates. For North America, a naturally-aspirated 275 hp 3.5L V6 with port and direct injection replaced the 3.7L V6; the 3.5L twin-turbo V6 remained an option. For markets outside the Americas, the four Duratorq diesel engines were replaced by a single 2.0L EcoBlue inline-4 turbodiesel (shared with the Ranger outside of North America). Offered in multiple power outputs (105, 130, 170, 185 PS), the EcoBlue engine is also offered with a mild-hybrid option (with the 130 PS engine). Initially intended for North American sale (alongside the Transit Connect), the EcoBlue option was dropped shortly before its introduction.


title: Ford Transit

text: All-wheel drive is again an option for the model line. A new trim level marketed as Transit Trail was also made available for the Transit and Transit Custom. It features a Quaife locking differential and design elements of the North-American market Ford F-150 Raptor. A crew van body style was introduced as a new option; known as a double cab in Europe, the design combines the design of a passenger and cargo van, offering 5-passenger seating and a large rear cargo space. The 2020 Transit also adopted power-sliding doors and dual sliding doors (for cargo vans) as options.


title: Ford Transit

text: In November 2020, Ford announced the 2022 E-Transit battery electric cargo van; key specifications include a / maximum cargo capacity, 68 kWh (usable capacity) battery and up to range, based on the US EPA Multi-Cycle Test (MCT) procedure. The E-Transit began production at Ford's Kansas City Assembly Plant in November 2021. The first E-Transits were delivered to American customers in February 2022; according to Ford, they had received more than 10,000 orders for the E-Transit from 300 commercial fleets. E-Transit production for the European market began at Otosan in April 2022 to fill orders totaling more than 5,000 vehicles.


title: Ford Transit

text: The E-Transit has a unique chassis to accommodate the traction battery between the frame rails, but is fitted with the same bodies as the conventional Transit. Under the bonnet, Ford have fitted cooling pumps for the high-voltage traction battery and motor, along with cabin climate control equipment and other electrical gear, including the DC-DC converter. Externally, the E-Transit can be distinguished by its rear axle, which carries the traction motor and has an independent suspension using semi-trailing arms and coil springs, rather than the live axle and leaf springs of the conventional Transit.


title: Ford Transit

text: The liquid-cooled traction battery is sourced from the Mustang Mach-E; useable capacity is 68 kW-hr with a gross capacity of 77 kW-hr. Maximum charging speeds are 11.3 kW (AC) or 115 kW (DC). The Combined Charging System vehicle inlet is on the front of the car, below the manufacturer's emblem. The traction motor of the E-Transit is shared with the Ford F-150 Lightning, with a nominal output of and ; in the UK, it is offered with a choice of two traction motor outputs, ; both produce the same torque as the US model. Operating in Eco mode, power is limited to . The advertised maximum range of (EPA) is accomplished with the low-roof model. Under the WLTP cycle, maximum range is . When equipped with the Pro Power Onboard option, the E-Transit can supply up to 2.4 kW of electrical power for tools and accessories through conventional AC outlets.


title: Ford Transit

text: There are 25 combinations of height (2 choices), wheelbase (3), and gross vehicle weight rating (3) in the UK. In the United States, purchasers are given a choice of three body lengths (Regular, Long, or Extended), two wheelbases (), three roof heights (Low, Medium, or High), and three chassis preparations (cargo van, cutaway, or chassis cab; the latter two are offered with a wheelbase only); all US versions are sold as a single T-350 model with a GVWR of .


title: Ford Transit

text: The Ford Transit Trail is an upcoming off-road motorhome version of the van and comes with a twin-turbo V6 engine and all-wheel drive.


title: Ford Transit

text: Replacing the previous front-wheel drive Transit/Tourneo, the Ford Transit Custom is a mid-size cargo and passenger van. Competing against the Mercedes-Benz Vito/Viano, Peugeot Expert, Renault Trafic and Volkswagen Transporter, the Custom is offered in two body lengths and two roof heights. Offered in most worldwide markets, the Transit Custom is not currently sold in the United States and Canada; it is sold in Mexico (where the predecessor front-wheel drive Transit replaced the Freestar minivan).


title: Ford Transit

text: For 2018 production, the model line received an exterior update, distinguished by a new grille (in line with the larger Transit); the interior received a new dashboard (styled in line with the Fiesta).


title: Ford Transit

text: Worldwide production of the fourth-generation Transit is sourced from two Ford facilities. All Transit production for Europe and Asia is sourced from Ford Otosan in Kocaeli Province, Turkey; this factory provides a percentage of global exports. North American and South American production is primarily sourced from Kansas City Assembly in Claycomo, Missouri; production at the Kansas City Assembly Plant began on 30 April 2014.


title: Ford Transit

text: In North America, the model line was launched as a 2015 model, adopting the Transit name for both cargo and passenger vans (rather than using the Tourneo name used in other markets for passenger vans).


title: Ford Transit

text: A handful of companies offered four-wheel-drive conversions, such as County Tractors of Knighton in Powys, Wales, UK who converted vans on behalf of Ford as a Special Vehicle Operations factory option. The first Transit County models were based on the Mk2 Transit model, both long and short wheelbase. The conversion used a Dana 44F front axle and a NP208 transfer box, both lifted from the Ford Bronco, coupled to the regular Transit engine, gearbox and rear axle using three custom propshafts. The Transit rear axle was retained, mounted to a rear subframe or 'lift cradle' to give the extra ride height. Other modifications were 16-inch wheel rims, locking front hubs, a heavy-duty steering box and 305 mm diameter front brake discs.


title: Ford Transit

text: With the introduction of the Mk3 Transit in 1986 came the next generation of the County 4×4. This would prove to be a very popular and successful version of the County Transit 4×4, and the last to use the Dana beam axle layout. Later County 4×4 models switched to using an independent front suspension setup which was inherently more complex in design than the earlier beam axle models. Later panel vans also lost the twin-wheel rear axle that had been fitted on earlier LWB versions.


title: Ford Transit

text: Mainly used by utility companies such as National Grid (UK), the Ministry of Defence (UK), and by mountain rescue teams, the Transit County 4×4 proved to be a capable vehicle both on and off-road, with the ability to carry both crew and equipment just about anywhere.


title: Ford Transit

text: Design and supply of drivetrain components for County 4×4 models passed to Countytrac, a division of M.J. Allen Ltd, who are still involved in the development of the latest Mk7 AWD Transit and Connect models.


title: Ford Transit

text: Introduced as part of the 1995 redesign of the Transit, the Tourneo is a Transit-based 8 or 9-seat minibus, but over the years has become increasingly better trimmed up to the point where it can almost be classified as a large MPV. Featuring back seats and back windows similar to a minivan, the Tourneo is also considered an executive transport vehicle and is often supplied with alloy wheels. Since its introduction, the Tourneo has followed the same development cycle as the Transit; both versions receive updates at the same time.


title: Ford Transit

text: A smaller minivan version of the Tourneo was introduced in 2002; branded the Tourneo Connect, it was based on the Transit Connect mini MPV.


title: Ford Transit

text: The version based on the fourth generation Transit is marketed as the Ford Tourneo Custom, and from 2019 has a plug-in hybrid engine option.


title: Madame de Pompadour

text: Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and remained influential as court favourite until her death.


title: Madame de Pompadour

text: Pompadour took charge of the king's schedule and was a valued aide and advisor, despite her frail health and many political enemies. She secured titles of nobility for herself and her relatives, and built a network of clients and supporters. She was particularly careful not to alienate the Queen, Marie Leszczyńska. On 8 February 1756, the Marquise de Pompadour was named as the thirteenth lady-in-waiting to the queen, a position considered the most prestigious at the court, which accorded her with honors.


title: Madame de Pompadour

text: Pompadour was a major patron of architecture and decorative arts, especially porcelain. She was a patron of the "philosophes" of the Enlightenment, including Voltaire.


title: Madame de Pompadour

text: Hostile critics at the time generally tarred her as a malevolent political influence, but historians are more favorable, emphasizing her successes as a patron of the arts and a champion of French pride. Art historian Melissa Hyde argues that the critics of Pompadour were driven by fears over the overturning of social and gender hierarchies that Pompadour's power and influence, as a woman who was not born into the aristocracy, represented.


title: Madame de Pompadour

text: Jeanne Antoinette Poisson was born on 29 December 1721 in Paris to François Poisson and his wife Madeleine de La Motte. It is suspected that her biological father was either the rich financier Jean Pâris de Monmartel or the tax collector ("fermier général") Charles François Paul Le Normant de Tournehem. Le Normant de Tournehem became her legal guardian when François Poisson was forced to leave the country in 1725 after a scandal over a series of unpaid debts; such crime at that time was punishable by death, however, he was cleared eight years later and allowed to return to France.


title: Madame de Pompadour

text: At age 5 Jeanne Antoinette was sent to receive the finest quality education of the day in an Ursuline convent in Poissy, where she gained admiration for her wit and charm. Due to poor health, thought to be whooping cough, Jeanne Antoinette returned home in January 1730 at age 9. During this time her mother took her to a fortuneteller, Madame de Lebon, who predicted that the girl would one day reign over the heart of a king. Henceforth she became known as "Reinette", meaning "little queen", and was groomed to become the mistress of Louis XV. Tournehem arranged for Jeanne Antoinette to receive a private education at home with the best teachers at the time. From there on she was taught dancing, drawing, painting, engraving, theatre, the arts and the ability to memorize entire plays. It may have been this sponsoring of Jeanne Antoinette's education in particular that sparked rumors of his paternity to Poisson.


title: Madame de Pompadour

text: At the age of nineteen, Jeanne Antoinette was married to Charles Guillaume Le Normant d'Étiolles, the nephew of her guardian Charles Le Normant de Tournehem, who initiated the match and the large financial incentives that came with it. On 15 December 1740, Tournehem made his nephew his sole heir, disinheriting all his other nephews and nieces: the children of his brother and sister. These included the estate at Étiolles, a wedding gift from her guardian, which was situated on the edge of the royal hunting ground of the forest of Sénart. Once married, Le Normant d'Étiolles fell passionately in love with his wife, while she addressed that she would never leave him – except for the King. The couple had a son who died in infancy and a daughter, Alexandrine Le Normant d'Étiolles born in 1744, who died at the age of nine.


title: Madame de Pompadour

text: Jeanne Antoinette's marital status allowed her to frequent celebrated salons in Paris, such as those hosted by Mesdames de Tencin, Geoffrin, du Deffand and others. Within these salons she crossed paths with principal figures of the Enlightenment, including Voltaire, Charles Pinot Duclos, Montesquieu, Helvétius, and Bernard de Fontenelle. Additionally, Jeanne Antoinette created her own salon at Étiolles, which was attended by many of the cultural elite, among them were Crébillon fils, Montesquieu, the Cardinal de Bernis, and Voltaire. Within these circles she learned the fine art of conversation and developed the sharp wit for which she would later become known at Versailles.


title: Madame de Pompadour

text: Due to her involvement in Paris salons as well as her grace and beauty, Louis XV had heard the name of Jeanne Antoinette mentioned at court as early as 1742. In 1744, Jeanne Antoinette sought to catch the eye of the King while he led the hunt in the forest of Sénart. Because she occupied an estate near this location she was permitted to follow the royal party at a distance. However, wanting to attract the King's notice, Jeanne Antoinette drove directly in front of the King's path, once in a pink phaeton, wearing a blue dress, and once in a blue phaeton, wearing a pink dress. The King sent a gift of venison to her. Though the King's current mistress Maria Anne de Mailly, named Madame de Châteauroux, had warned off Jeanne Antoinette, the position became vacant on 8 December 1744 when Châteauroux died. On 24 February 1745, Jeanne Antoinette received a formal invitation to attend the masked ball held on February 25 at the Palace of Versailles to celebrate the marriage of the Dauphin Louis of France to Infanta Maria Teresa of Spain. It was at this ball that the King, disguised along with seven courtiers as a yew tree, publicly declared his affection for Jeanne Antoinette. Before all of court and the royal family, Louis unmasked himself before Jeanne Antoinette, who was dressed as Diana the Huntress in reference to their encounter in the forest of Sénart.