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Showing restraint
Page 10
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When you're the market leader, the next step is to move into the niche sectors. CM looks at what Ford has been doing with load security on its Transit Connect.
Words / Images: Brian WeatherLey
WHILE THERE'S been a flurry of activity in the compact van sector lately, with new products from the likes of Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat (not forge fting VW). Ford still remains the dominant player with its Transit Connect.
However, once you've won all the Heel business you want or dare bid for, and have satisfied the needs of the average retail buyer with a formidable range backed by a nationwide network, what do you do next?
For the all-conquering Blue Oval, it's a case of looking at niche products — or, to put it another way, what's not already offered in the brochure.
Witness the latest movable bulkhead on the Transit Connect crew van. Crew van buyers typically want to shift a gang of up to five, along with a modest supply of tools and other kit. Thing is, they don't want the two to meet — especially under heavy braking.
Option
The latest movable mesh bulkhead is available on short and long-wheelbase Transit Connect crew vans for £214 plus VAT and fitting. And it's just the thing to ensure crew and kit don't collide, If you're carrying five people (four plus the driver), the bulkhead sits behind the second row of folding seats, giving 909mm of load length to the back doors on the SWB and 1,172mm on the LWB variant. However, with the second row of seats folded, the bulkhead can be moved forward quickly, providing an extra 357mm of load length on both wheelbase versions.
With load security and driver safety increasingly in the headlines, Ford offers another useful option for Transit Connect models that have been speeced with a folding front passenger's seat which enables long loads to be carried inside the cab rather than on the roof.
For £150, you can order a modified full-height and width rear mesh bulkhead that splits in half vertically and swings around 90 degrees, which keeps the load away from the driver. It's similar to the protective grilles on a bus.
Tested
CM recently had the chance to check out both these load-restraining items during a Transit Connect ride-and-drive event The movable bulkhead is simple to relocate, as it hooks over lugs in the roof and then locks to the floor using spring
loaded bolts. To move the bulkhead, you simply undo the bottom bolts, lift the bulkhead off the retaining lugs and move it forward or back to the required position, hooking it over the next set of roof lugs and reapplying the bolts. It's relatively easy to manhandle. Likewise, the folding bulkhead is simple to operate and is likely to be used.
Sim*
While some van operators might consider these two products a touch too niche for them, Ford wouldn't contemplate spending precious engineering time developing them if there wasn't a demand to be met.
You don't get to he market leader without listening to what the customer wants. And what the customer wants, the customer gets. •