Monday, May 3 2010
The Sapphire, a special version of the Ford Transit came off the line today at the Ford plant in Southampton. Coinciding with this event, a global celebration of the Ford Transit’s 6,000,0000 sales number ensued in Southampton, and in the countries of China and Turkey. The most favoured van in the United Kingdom celebrates its 45 birthday this year, having sales in excess of 2.1 million in Britain since its inception in the mid-sixties.
Van insurance comparison site from The Van Insurer
The vice president of Ford’s European Manufacturing division, Ken Macfarlane, gave the keys of the Sapphire to Paul Hendy who is with the first Ford dealer in Britain, which is also hitting an important milestone this year as they celebrate their 100th birthday; this dealership moves 3,000 Ford Transits per year. Paul Hendy, who holds the position of managing director of this dealership (the Hendy Group) stated that the Transit had been a vital part of their business for a several years, and “as one of Britain’s main suppliers of Transits we are excited to be a part of such a big milestone for the Ford Transit, especially since we celebrate 100 years as a Ford dealer at the same time.”
Ken Macfarlane when commenting on the Transit milestone, stated that it “was great to be at Southampton as the Transit hits this important milestone. He also told of how in his lifetime the plant in Southampton had faced many challenges but had still kept the high quality of their product; he said that this had been made possible by a dedicated group of workers that I give my thanks to.”