Don’t celebrate too quickly: I think the Ford Transit Connect is the one Ford import with the seats installed, and then rips them out and trashes them.
The Transit Connect is advertised as having seating for two to five folks. I'm guessing on the two-seat models, they either ship without the back row, or, in a pinch, the dealer could remove the back row. I looked at one of these on the lot. Quite frankly, it looked very useful for urban settings. I would like to point out, however, that the mileage for this utility vehicle is quite low given the powerplant and vehicle size. I had a full-sized Buick Regal GS with a supercharged 3.8 liter that got better fuel mileage than this truck is purported to get with a 2.0 liter - even with my lead foot. My folks own a 2006 or 2007 Lincoln Town Car with a V-8 that also gets comparable mileage.
Don’t celebrate too quickly: I think the Ford Transit Connect is the one Ford imports with the seats installed, and then rips them out and trashes them.Sort of.
Except that Ford actually recycles the seats that they remove.
And, you missed the most important part of that story.Ford goes through this wasteful charade...
...to get around goofy FEDERAL REGULATIONS.From YOUR link:
...Why all the the fuss and feathers? Blame the "chicken tax."The seats and windows are but dressing to help Ford navigate the wreckage of a 46-year-old trade spat.
In the early 1960s, Europe put high tariffs on imported chicken, taking aim at rising U.S. sales to West Germany. President Johnson retaliated in 1963, in part by targeting German-made Volkswagens with a tax on imports of foreign-made trucks and commercial vans.
The 1960s went the way of love beads and sitar records, but the chicken tax never died. Europe still has a tariff on imports of U.S. chicken, and the U.S. still hits delivery vans imported from overseas with a 25% tariff. American companies have to pay, too, which puts Ford in the weird position of circumventing U.S. trade rules that for years have protected U.S. auto makers' market for trucks.
The company's wiggle room comes from the process of defining a delivery van. Customs officials check a bunch of features to determine whether a vehicle's primary purpose might be to move people instead...