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The Ford Transit, produced in Türkiye since 1967 and recognized as the world’s best-selling van, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
Ford Otosan, the company’s joint venture in Türkiye, announced on Friday that global production of the model has surpassed 13 million units.
According to Ford Otosan, a Transit has been produced every 2.5 minutes on average over the past six decades. More than 10.1 million units have been manufactured in Türkiye and Europe combined, contributing to the global total of over 13 million.
The first Transit rolled off the assembly line on August 9, 1965. Two years later, production began in Türkiye, where the Golcuk plant in the northwestern province of Kocaeli became a central hub for the model’s manufacturing and export.
In 2023, one out of every five vans sold in Europe’s 1-ton and 2-ton categories was either a Transit or its smaller variant, the Transit Custom. Across the continent, a Transit was sold on average every two minutes.
The original Mk1 Transit, launched in the mid-1960s, had a payload capacity of around 1.7 tonnes. The largest current model, the L4H3 panel van, offers more than 2.4 tonnes of load capacity and 15.1 cubic meters of cargo space — enough to hold approximately 236,000 table tennis balls.
Ford has also adapted the model for new technologies and sustainability targets. The E-Transit electric van now offers a range of up to 402 kilometers, a 28% increase over the standard battery version, while the high-performance SuperVan 4.2 electric prototype produces 2,000 PS of power.
Between 2014 and 2024, sales of the Transit and Transit Custom in Europe grew by 52%. Annual production in Europe and Türkiye is now four times higher than in 1966, the first full production year.
In the United Kingdom, the Transit has been the best-selling van for 59 consecutive years. Ford Otosan’s Customer and Technology Center also reported improving vehicle uptime by 10,000 days in the first half of 2024 through connected vehicle data, which allowed them to alert drivers to potential issues before breakdowns occurred.
Founded in 1959 by Türkiye’s largest conglomerate, Koc Holding, Ford Otosan is a long-standing joint venture with U.S.-based Ford Motor Company. The company was Türkiye’s leading automotive exporter in 2024, generating ₺456.9 billion ($12.91 billion) in export revenue.
In the first half of 2025, Türkiye’s commercial vehicle industry earned $3.2 billion, while total automotive exports reached a record $19.98 billion.
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