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2015 Ford Transit

As a segment, fullsize vans are stealth-fighter invisible on most consumers' radar. Visit a dealership for any of the four brands that offer them and you'll be lucky to find even one on display. These are commercial vehicles primarily, even more so than pickup trucks. Vans are the shuttles for plumbers, caterers, carpenters, concrete layers, masons, electricians, florists and flooring, and a huge part of this country's productivity is accomplished using them. At the moment, Ford is the 800-pound gorilla in that room - fully 41 percent of commercial vehicles wear a Blue Oval. So when Ford announced three years ago it would be ditching its commercial bread-and-butter E-Series, it meant the Transit that would be replacing the Econoline had huge, 53-year-old shoes to fill.
We were still a bit nostalgic about Econoline vans going away until going directly from the Transit first drive in Kansas City to an E-350 airport shuttle. Climb up through the Econoline's tiny double doors and bang your head on the opening, crouch all the way to your seat then enjoy a loud, rattle-prone, creaky, harsh ride on beam-hard seats while struggling to see out the low windows. This is an experience nearly every traveler has had. By comparison, the Transits we'd just spent two days with were every bit of the four decades better they needed to be. It cannot be understated just how much better the Transit is in every single way. The load floor is barely more than knee high. There's a huge side door, and hitting your head on a door opening is nearly impossible. Stand up all the way if you're under six-foot, six-inches - no more half-hunching down the aisle. There are windows actually designed to be looked out of. The ride is buttery smooth, no booming vibration from un-restrained metal panels and no squeaks. Conversations can be held at normal levels rather than yelling over the roar of an ancient V8. The seats are comfortable. The AC is cold. There are cupholders.
Enough anecdote-laying, what's in a Transit? We're talking about a very fullsized unibody van that's enjoyed a 49-year history in Ye Olde Europe. This latest iteration is part of the "One Ford" initiative, so it was designed as a global offering from the get-go, eschewing the body-on-frame construction the E-Series has used since 1975. Instead, the Transit integrates a rigid ladder frame into an overall frame construction made of high-strength cold-rolled and boron steel. The suspension is a simple but well-tuned Macpherson strut array up front with a rear solid axle and leaf springs.

2018 Woodward Dream Cruise: What to know and where to go

If there's anything that proves Detroit's motor-oil-in-the-veins, gearhead bonafides, it's the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, which will bring an anticipated 1.5 million or so people from near and far, plus tens of thousands of classic and custom and just plain weird cars, to a 16-mile portion of Woodward Avenue on Saturday for the 24th year. Loved by gearheads, collectors and the merely curious, who see it as the Motor City's version of Mardi Gras, and loathed by others, who deride it as the world's largest traffic jam, the Dream Cruise is nothing if not an explosion for the senses. What will you see there? Well, as Autoblog Managing Editor Greg Rasa put it last year, "There are historic cars. And works of art. Some are worth vast sums of money, and some are rat rods and rust buckets. And some are bizarre creations that make you ask, 'What were they thinking?'" A few things are certain: You will see many incredible automobiles. There will be plenty of T-shirts and other merch, official and not-so-much. It will be crowded, and probably hot. The Cruise will officially go from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., though of course cruisers have been out already for weeks. And there are plenty of attractions, both on and off the pavement of Woodward. Tony Michaels, the Dream Cruise's executive director, said the event is special for the Detroit region. "Together we celebrate the automobile and what it has meant to us," he told Autoblog. "To see the these fantastic vehicles and the proud owners says so much about who we are and our pride. "People should take it in to see history running 16 miles down Woodward Avenue and to be a part of the greatest automobile event in America." Ford is once again serving as the Dream Cruise presenting sponsor and will hold the 20th anniversary of the Mustang Alley at the corner of Nine Mile and Woodward in Ferndale, where it expects as many as 1,000 Mustangs to line up. It will also show off its lineage of trucks at 13 Mile, along with several performance vehicles at Duggan's Irish Pub at 31501 Woodward in Royal Oak. The company on Thursday unveiled the 2018 Mustang Cobra Jet drag car to celebrate the nameplate's 50th anniversary. Just 68 examples are planned of the $130,000 limited-edition model Other Ford activities include: Sales of tickets for a raffle of a one-off Kona Blue Mustang Bullitt, starting at the media clubhouse at 2 p.m. Friday. The raffle itself takes place in November and will support juvenile diabetes research.

Ford opens 88 new dealerships in China in a single day

"Ford opened 88 dealerships in China last year." "Ford opened 88 dealerships in China during the first half of 2014." "Ford opened 88 dealerships in China last month." None of those statements - even the last one - would seem unbelievable. Saying "Ford opened up 88 dealerships in China last Thursday," though, is a bit more dramatic.
Yes, on June 19 alone, Ford opened the doors on nearly 100 showrooms in the People's Republic, boosting the Blue Oval's total presence in the country to 750 dealerships. Of course, while an overabundance of dealers in the US proved troublesome for American manufacturers back in 2008 and 2009, there's no such concern in China. Considering the country's huge population and the breakneck pace of the local auto industry, you could be forgiven for being surprised Ford only has 750 outlets at this stage.
What's notable about this most recent push, besides the sheer volume of new stores, is their location. Over three-quarters of the new dealerships are in so-called Tier 4 cities, which are smaller towns that still contain millions of people. This fits with Ford's strategy in China of avoiding the bigger battlegrounds that are already dominated by competitors and focusing on setting up shop in newer markets that may have been overlooked, according to Automotive News.