page_title: Ford Transit Connect
section_title: First generation (2002–2013)
hierarchical_section_title: Ford Transit Connect / First generation (2002–2013)
caption_attribution_description: 2010 Ford Transit Connect XLT photographed in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA.
context_page_description: The Ford Transit Connect is a compact panel van developed by Ford Europe. It is built on a dedicated commercial vehicle platform and shares parts with the Ford Focus. The first generation was designed by Peter Horbury and introduced in 2002 to replace the older Ford Escort and Fiesta-based Courier van ranges, which had ceased production in the same year. It has been imported to the North American market since the 2010 model year. In North America, the Transit Connect does not have a direct predecessor; the closest vehicle to its size was the standard-length Ford Aerostar cargo van, which ceased production in 1997.
  The Ford Tourneo Connect, a leisure activity vehicle, is a Transit Connect with side windows and rear seats. All Transit Connects bound for the United States are imported in this configuration to avoid the 25% "chicken tax" on imported light trucks. In 2013, US Customs told Ford that they must stop this practice of importing vans disguised as passenger cars.
context_section_description: The Transit Connect was introduced in Europe in October 2002 as the replacement for car-derived vans based on the Escort and the Fiesta but as it is built on a dedicated commercial vehicle platform it is not a car derived van itself. Production of the Escort in Europe ceased in 2000 (although the vans carried on for another two years), whilst the Fiesta Courier was also planned to be discontinued when the fifth generation Fiesta entered production in 2002. Ford elected not to develop a direct sedan delivery version of the Focus, instead pursuing a purpose built design.
  Sharing few components with the much larger Transit, the Transit Connect was built on a dedicated commercial vehicle platform C170 similar to the international Ford Focus, then common with the first generation North American Ford Focus. Rather than adapting an existing bodystyle into a van, the Transit Connect was designed with sliding side doors.
  The Escort van and the Fiesta Courier had been assembled at the Halewood and Dagenham plants in England, respectively, but both plants were to cease Ford car production (Halewood was to be handed over to Jaguar, whilst Dagenham was to become an engine plant only), so a new production facility was needed.
  The Transit Connect was assembled by Otosan in an all-new production facility at Gölcük, near Kocaeli, Turkey.
  In its first year on the North American market, the Transit Connect was awarded "North American Truck of the Year 2010" at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).
caption: Ford Transit Connect XLT Van (USA, post-facelift)
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