Knapheide promoted its KUV (Knapheide Utility Vehicle) built for installation on the new 2015 Transit cutaway chassis.
Knapheide promoted its KUV (Knapheide Utility Vehicle) built for installation on the new 2015 Transit cutaway chassis.
Knapheide promoted its KUV (Knapheide Utility Vehicle) built for installation on the new 2015 Transit cutaway chassis.
Knapheide promoted its KUV (Knapheide Utility Vehicle) built for installation on the new 2015 Transit cutaway chassis.
Knapheide promoted its KUV (Knapheide Utility Vehicle) built for installation on the new 2015 Transit cutaway chassis.

Ford, Knapheide showcase joint partnership

June 1, 2014
FORD Motor Company displayed the results of its billion-dollar retooling of its Kansas City plant during a special press event June 4 and 5.

FORD Motor Company displayed the results of its billion-dollar retooling of its Kansas City plant during a special press event June 4 and 5.

Knapheide Manufacturing also participated in the event, demonstrating its ability to upfit the output of the Ford plant with commercial equipment.

The Kansas City plant has begun production on the Transit, the European inspired van that the company is building to replace the E-Series. The Transit will be offered as a van, cutaway, and chassis cab.

While Ford will continue to offer Class 3 and 4 E-Series cutaway and stripped chassis through the end of this decade, the Transit will fill a broad spectrum of the E-Series applications. And with pre-engineered frame modification kits and a roof that is pre-configured for ladder rack installations, the amount of time required to upfit the vehicle for these applications should be less.

The Transit, which Ford introduced in Europe in 1965, is currently sold in 118 markets on six continents. The 2015 version that Ford will build and market domestically will be offered in two wheelbases (130 inches and 148 inches) and three roof heights. The high-roof Transit provides 81.5 inches of maximum interior cargo height, enough to allow a person 6-feet-8 inches tall to stand upright in the cargo area. As a result, the Transit van provides up to 487 cubic feet of cargo volume and 4,650 pounds of maximum payload capacity—75% more than the largest E-Series.

Ford is now producing its new Transit, the replacement for the E-Series, in a retooled plant in Kansas City.

Maximum payload increases more than 600 pounds across the Transit van lineup versus comparable E-Series vans. maximum towing capacity is 7,600 pounds.

Ford has invested $1.1 billion to retool and expand the facility for Transit production. Expansion projects include the addition of a 437,000-sq-ft stamping facility and a 78,000-sq-ft paint shop that will employ the three-wet and two-wet monocoat paint processes. Both processes are more environmentally friendly and take less time than conventional paint processes.

The investment has also contributed to close to 550 new robots in the body shop, more than 700 new assembly tools in trim and chassis, and 18 new conveyor systems totaling 5,565 feet.

The press event included a stop at Knapheide’s ship-through operation. The 103,000-sq-ft facility is part of the SubTropolis a massive industrial park carved out of a limestone hill in the Kansas City area. ♦

About the Author

Bruce Sauer | Editor

Bruce Sauer has been writing about the truck trailer, truck body and truck equipment industries since joining Trailer/Body Builders as an associate editor in 1974. During his career at Trailer/Body Builders, he has served as the magazine's managing editor and executive editor before being named editor of the magazine in 1999. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin.