While Americans tend to gravitate toward pickups – especially commercial customers – that isn’t the case in Europe, where the Ford Transit Custom and other vans have long dominated the sales charts. In fact, CEO Jim Farley recently said that the Ford Transit Custom is Europe’s Ford Super Duty, a big-time sales leader, award winner, and revenue generator for the company in that regard. Last October, the all-new Ford Transit Custom launched in that region, and now, the Automobile Association (AA) in the UK is using specially-equipped versions of the van to provide roadside assistance for its members, too.
AA – which is much like the UK’s version of AAA – currently provides roadside assistance services to 14 million citizens of that country, as it has done since the 1920s. Today, it employs a fleet of 2,700 vehicles to aid in that task, and began utilizing the Transit Custom as part of a trial program back in April of 2023. Those vehicles were upfitted with a series of specialty tools and equipment, all of which work seamlessly with the van’s built-in tech.
That pilot program produced positive results for AA, and as such, it has decided to order a grand total of 700 Transit Custom models equipped with Ford Pro digital solutions – a group that includes including 15 all-electric E-Transit Custom vans and 15 Transit Custom plug-in hybrid models as well.
“Having a system that allows our patrols to operate crucial systems from one interface is ideal for us,” said Tony Rich, PR manager, The AA. “It also needs to be intuitive and require minimal touch, because it’s essential that our patrols are not distracted while they’re driving. The Upfit Integration System has allowed us to tick all those boxes.”
We’ll have more on the Transit Custom soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Transit news and 24/7 Ford news coverage.
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