Ford Transit Path 2023 targets growth in RV ‘van life’

DETROIT — Ford Motor desires to make “residing in a van down by the river” a bit extra comfy than late comic Chris Farley — a cousin of the automaker’s CEO — made it out to be in a widely known “Saturday Evening Stay” sketch from the early Nineteen Nineties.

The Detroit automaker on Thursday revealed the 2023 Ford Transit Path Van, a brand new lifted mannequin of its full-size van geared up with all-wheel-drive and extra sturdy, off-road elements for out of doors fanatics. It additionally comes prepared for personalisation, also referred to as “upfitting,” to show the car right into a residing or sleeping house.

Ford is trying to money in on the growth in sales of recreational trailers and vehicles, or RVs, through the coronavirus pandemic. Ford already is among the predominant corporations that gives vans and vans to upfitters to make them into RVs. It additionally has launched a slew of off-road autos lately such because the Ford Bronco SUVs and F-150 Tremor pickup.

“We can have extra demand than provide, based mostly on all of the numbers we see,” Ted Cannis, CEO of the automaker’s Ford Professional industrial car enterprise, informed CNBC.

Ford is touting the Transit Path Van as a gateway into “van life,” a group of vacationers who totally or partially stay of their autos. Photographs launched Thursday by the automaker present the car immersed in a scenic setting, together with a pair who seem like residing by a river.

The phrase “residing in a van down by the river” was made well-known by Chris Farley throughout a 1993 “Saturday Evening Stay” sketch the place he performed Matt Foley, a divorced motivational speaker who lives in a van down by the river. He tries to make use of his state of affairs to encourage two youngsters — performed by David Spade and Christina Applegate — to say no to smoking marijuana.

For a time, Ford CEO Jim Farley had a reference to the bit — and his late cousin — in his Twitter profile: “Mustang and racing fan. Occur to like white vans …  ideally down by the river.” The auto government has paid other tributes to his cousin on the social media platform via using memes and different media.

Cannis mentioned there is no connection between the car and “SNL” sketch. Nevertheless, he mentioned Jim Farley requested about moving into this section after a visit to California in 2020.

“He is very enamored with the house, nevertheless it’s actually simply coincidence on this case,” Cannis mentioned.

The 2023 Ford Transit Path Van will go on sale within the spring, beginning at $65,975. That is about $15,000 greater than a base passenger Transit van. The car will likely be obtainable in three cargo van configurations, together with medium- and high-roof fashions and a high-roof, extended-length model.

The van will likely be produced at Ford’s Kansas Metropolis Meeting Plant in Missouri. The car doesn’t come commonplace with a residing or sleeping house, however Transit Path house owners can have entry to Ford Professional’s community of upfitters and inside installers.

The car will likely be offered to customers in addition to industrial upfitters, which Cannis says can spend tens of hundreds of {dollars} customizing such autos.

Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the mother or father firm of CNBC and NBC, which airs “Saturday Evening Stay.”