Is designing a van like the Transit like designing a car? Yes and no. It is from a strictly technical and, if you will, procedural standpoint: sketches, then on to the computer and models, with one eye on aerodynamics and the other on surface treatment, working with headlights and sculpted shapes as with cars. But then the amount of models comes into play, as Andrew Wolton, Exterior Design Manager at Ford Pro, explains: \u201cIt’s much more complicated than a car because it’s a multiplication of models. For a car, at worst, you have to design a four-door sedan, a coup\u00e9, and a wagon.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
![\"Ford](\"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025090502_FordTransit60.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>From six to one-hundred-fifty versions<\/strong><\/span> Space, work, relaxation<\/strong><\/span> Strong, sculptural identity<\/strong><\/span>
\nFor one of our vans, we have to work with three different lengths, four different heights, and cabins with one or two rows of seats. It’s a modular system, available in eight to 12 models.\u201d Jens Sieber, Chief Designer of Ford Pro, chimes in: \u201cDeveloping one version and then modifying the parameters for the others would create a corrupt product. We need to ensure, for example, that the aerodynamics work from the start with all the variants.\u201d The original Transit, 60 years ago, launched with six versions. Wolton smiles: \u201cToday, considering Transits that are campers, ambulances, fire engines, and countless other things, we reach up to 150 different solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\nAbove all, there’s the search for a balance that’s almost absent in passenger vehicles: that between the comfort of the driver, therefore the space dedicated to them, and the space available for cargo, which is ultimately the fundamental requirement of a commercial vehicle. \u201cSo not just function,\u201d explains Sieber, \u201cbut a hybrid form of space, work, and relaxation, yet at the same time with a strong character that’s easily identifiable with the product.\u201d \u201cDynamic yet friendly, never aggressive,\u201d Wolton adds.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\nThe Transit, with a design clearly inspired by the world of SUVs, as the passenger versions of the Tourneo series clearly demonstrate, has, in Sieber’s words, \u201ca higher up nose\u201d not only to create an image of capacity but also, stylistically, to facilitate the fusion of front and sides: \u201cOther things like the choice of colours, the proportion of the windows, the character lines give a strong sculptural identity and a clear expression.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>