- The Ford Transit Trail takes the Transit van and modifies it to offer a turnkey solution for RV and outdoors enthusiasts.
- With the Bronco, the Bronco Sport and the Timberline version of the Explorer, not to mention the Raptor editions, Ford is actively working the rugged-outdoors-vehicle market.
- The Ford Transit Trail is expected in 2023.
Many manufacturers are presently working the lucrative and growing market for adventure-focused versions of SUVs and trucks. The number of available models designed for off-road excursions has grown steadily in recent years.
Ford is at the forefront of that. The American automaker has produced an Explorer Timberline edition, and of course there’s the Ford Bronco, which just begs owners to take it off-road.
Ford doesn't intend to stop there. The company is preparing a more adventurous variant of its Transit delivery van. The Ford Transit Trail, expected to arrive in 2023, aims to offer an alternative to the SUV and truck formats in the outdoorsy-vehicle segment.
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Ted Cannis, CEO of Ford’s commercial vehicle division Ford Pro, took to Twitter to make the announcement and show two teaser images of the future Transit Trail. Ford Pro, recall, is one of the three commercial divisions created by Ford during its restructuring earlier this year.
Along with confirming the vehicle’s coming, Ford shared… very little in terms of technical details. Its announcement promises interior and exterior improvements that will give people a turnkey RV right out of the box. We know that several companies specialize in transforming this type of model. But here, Ford evidently wants to claim some of that turf for itself, by proposing a finished product badged with the company’s own philosophy and signature.
It's also a good way to counter what could come from the competition, especially the future I.D. Buzz from Volkswagen. That model will be offered with a host of personalization option for outdoors enthusiasts, as was the case back in the day (with the help of Westfalia, as you might remember).
The images show a Transit with an unmodified high roof, but with lighting inspired by Ford’s Raptor models, notably on the grille and the front fenders. We don't know if the Transit Trail will inherit a different engine, but we can guess that the Transit van’s current engines will do the trick (two 3.5L V6s, one naturally aspirated, the other turbocharged).
We can also assume that as the Transit van transitions to electric power, so too will the Transit Trail.
Ford says the model will be built at its Kansas City plant, where other Transit vehicles are assembled. It's unclear when exactly the model will launch commercially, other than that it will be sometime next year.
Stay tuned.