Ford dispatches 400 Transit Connect taxis to New York

Today, it's an announcement that its Transit Connect utility vehicles are going into service as taxis in the Big Apple until it's Nissan's turn.

Operators have ordered 400 Transit Connect taxis. Starting in 2013, the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission is requiring that a modified Nissan van become the city's official taxi.

Ford is sensitive about the taxi issue because, at present, it dominates New York's and rest of the nation's taxi fleets with its Crown Victoria, one of the last full-size, rear-wheel-drive, heavy-duty cars that hold up under the strain of round-the-clock taxi work. But Ford deemed not to continue making the venerable Crown Vic, which goes out of production next week.