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Ford Transit is America's new best-selling van

The Ford Motor Company's sales in December ticked up 1.2 percent in the US, and the automaker was down 0.5 percent for 2014. But the Blue Oval looks like it might have a real winner on its hands when it comes to its new Transit van. The recently introduced line nearly doubled its numbers during the month by delivering 10,030 units for an annual total of 20,488 examples sold. It also gave the fullsize model the title of America's bestselling van for December. Those 10,000 sales put the Transit head and shoulders above all of its competitors in the crowded commercial van market. Second place went to the Chevrolet Express with 5,611 sales in December, and the ancient Ford E-Series was third with 5,256 moved. The rest of the segment was somewhat lower, with the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter at 3,288 units for the month, Ram ProMaster at 3,036, GMC Savana with 1,725 and Nissan NV at 1,554. December also marked the second month in a row for the Transit to beat out the E-Series in sales. However, its predecessor still won overall for the year with 103,263 units moved in 2014, but it enjoyed a full calendar year of sales. According to Ford spokesperson Mike Levine, the smaller Transit Connect had its best sales month ever for December too, and the automaker has been among the sales leaders in the van segment for the last 36 years. "Clearly, sales show we're best at meeting our customers' needs," said Levine to Autoblog, who touted the model's results on Twitter and cited the Transit's numerous configurations as its biggest selling point. Ford's latest van has other plusses, too, say analysts. "The one thing the Transit has going for it is a low base price relative to the competition. Compare the base price of the Sprinter to the Transit and it is hands-down a Transit win," said Dave Sullivan, auto industry analyst at AutoPacific, to Autoblog. Purely by model name, the Transit was also the bestselling van in November, with 4,851 deliveries. However, the Chevy Express had 4,478 sales, plus 716 more from the GMC Savana. Since these two are the same model beneath the skin, as a platform, they arguably took the title for that month. With a new year already here, the Transit has a new challenge to face. "2015 will be the year that the Transit has to leave the nest, because E-Series inventories will be close to zero and Transit will have to carry all the weight," said Sullivan.

More than 800,000 Fords recalled for faulty Takata airbags

The Basics: Ford is recalling about 816,000 Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles built in the US for faulty passenger-side Takata airbags. The affected vehicles were all built in North America, with 654,695 recalled vehicles in the US and 161,174 vehicles in Canada. A wide variety of cars, trucks, and SUVs are affected. This is a planned expansion of an earlier recall. 2005-09 and 2012 Ford Mustang 2005-06 Ford GT 2006-09 and 2012 Ford Fusion 2007-09 Ford Ranger 2007-09 Ford Edge 2006-09 and 2012 Lincoln Zephyr and Lincoln MKZ 2007-09 Lincoln MKX 2006-09 Mercury Milan The Problem: Like every other Takata recall, the problem rests with faulty airbags that can potentially expel shrapnel, injuring or killing vehicle occupants. Millions of vehicles from dozens of automakers are affected, so don't think that Ford is alone on this one. Injuries/Deaths: Ford stated in a press release that there have been no injuries or death linked to the vehicles in this recall. All in all, 11 deaths and 180 injuries across a variety of automakers have been linked to these Takata airbags. The fix: Ford will contact owners soon, and the affected vehicles will have their airbags replaced by a dealer at no additional charge. If you own one: Wait for contact from Ford, then head to the dealer to get a replacement. If you're wondering if your vehicle is affected, go to this Ford website and enter their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). The recall reference number is 17S01. Related Video: News Source: FordImage Credit: Associated Press Recalls Ford Lincoln Mercury Auto Repair Ownership Safety Truck Coupe Crossover SUV Sedan airbag Takata airbag recall

Ford announces four recalls, 1.4M vehicles affected

Ford is taking a bit of the spotlight away from General Motors, announcing a major group of recall campaigns, covering a total of 1.4 million vehicles built between 2006 and 2013.
Let's start with the big one, which covers the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner and, according to The Detroit News, Ford-built Mazda Tribute CUVs. 915,216 vehicles are covered, all of which were built in model years 2008 to 2011. 736,000 vehicles are in the US, while Canada then Mexico make up the vast majority of the remainder. The problem is due to an issue with the torque sensor in the steering column, which could lead to sudden power steering failure. Manual steering would still be available, though.
"Dealers will perform one of three service fixes, depending upon what diagnostic codes are shown when the vehicle is taken to the dealer," Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker wrote to Autoblog in an email. "They will either update software for the power steering control module and the instrument cluster module; replace the torque sensor; or replace the steering column, which includes upgraded power steering control module software."