Editing Ford Transit (section)

=== Brief historical view ===

On May 9, 1945, the day after the [[unconditional surrender]] of the [[German Wehrmacht]] in the [[Second World War]], production at [[Ford Germany]] in [[Cologne]] resumed. Because the production of civilian cars in the British [[occupied zone]] was restricted, Ford-Werke AG was limited to the production of trucks until 1948.<ref name=ergebnisse>{{citation | url = https://www.nonstopsystems.com/radio/pdf-hell/article-hell-wages-frd-ww2.pdf | title = Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen über die Ford-Werke unter dem Nationalsozialismus | trans-title = Results of the investigations into the Ford works under National Socialism | language = de | pages = 10–11 | publisher = Ford Motor Company Archives }}</ref> Those trucks based on the slightly modified war models V 3000 S, B 3000 S and V 3000 A as they were already produced before and during the Second World War in the Ford production facilities in the [[Third Reich]]. Those trucks were now called "Rhein" (V8-engined) and "Ruhr" (four-cylinder).

At that time neither Ford of Britain nor Ford Werke AG were 100% subsidiaries of [[Ford Motor Company]] in [[Detroit]]; before the Second World War each company had its own more or less protected market. After the war, several economical boundaries were abolished and local markets did not exist anymore in the same way that they existed before. With this, Ford of Britain and Ford-Werke AG suddenly became more competitive on the whole European Continent than local market subsidiaries of their parent company in Detroit.

Production of light commercial vehicles began in late 1948, when 148 half-ton delivery vehicles were built.<ref name=ergebnisse/> In 1951 Ford Werke AG launched the commercial vehicle series '''FK''', standing for Ford Köln, with different-sized vehicles (FK2000 with 2 tons payload, FK3000 with 3 tons payload, FK3500 with 3.5 tons payload, etc.). The FK series was successor of the "Rhein" and "Ruhr" trucks. In 1953, the FK series were rounded off with the light delivery van FK1000/FK1250 (1ton/1.25tons payload), in competition to the [[Volkswagen]] Type 2 [[VW Type 2|VW Bus]], the [[DKW]] Type [[DKW Schnellaster|F89L ''Schnellaster'']] or the [[Tempo (automobile)|Tempo Matador]].

As usual in the [[Anglo-Saxon countries]] in those days, Ford's marketing experts attached more importance to the model/series designation than to the "Ford" label as a brand.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} Most British Ford products carried no Ford emblem. The commercial vehicles produced at Ford-Werke AG were marketed with the FK logo, while the passenger cars produced from 1948 onwards were offered under the name Taunus referring to the re-produced pre-war model [[Ford Taunus G93A]].

Due to continental European habits, the original series and model designations "FK" and Taunus mutated into real brands, each with its own emblem and different models, comparable with [[Daimler Benz]] [[Mercedes-Benz|Mercedes]] models or [[General Motors]] [[Opel]] models. The FK emblem consists of two slightly overlapping ovals with the "F" from the well-known Ford emblem in the first and a "K" in the same font in the second oval. The Taunus emblem first depicted the [[Cologne Cathedral]]; from 1953 on until its discontinuation in 1967, Cologne's city flag inspired the Taunus emblem.

In 1961, Ford discontinued the entire truck production in Germany and took the FK brand off the market, due to serious defects and therefore strongly decreasing demand.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} The unrelated FK1000/FK1250 van, unaffected by these defects, continued to sell well and was now offered under the successful Taunus brand with the model name Transit in addition to the cars [[Ford Taunus P1|Taunus 12M/15M]] and the [[Ford Taunus P3|Taunus 17M]]. A comparable program to Volkswagen, that offered its vehicles [[VW Beetle]], [[VW Type 3|VW 1500]] and [[VW Type 2|VW Bus]] the same way on the continental European market. The "new" Transit Taunus van was now labelled with the Transit model name (instead of the FK logo) in big chrome letters and a big "Taunus" emblem as well as a small Taunus lettering which was also mounted on the back of the vehicle. New, however, was a small Ford logo underneath the right B-pillar.

From 1957 onwards, with the launch of the [[Ford Thames 400E]] by Ford of Britain, the situation arose that Ford, together with the FK1000/FK1250 by Ford Werke AG, was now present on the continental European markets with two competing products. For example, the British Ford Thames 400E was also assembled and improved as a left-hand drive version in the Ford assembly plants in [[Copenhagen]], Denmark, as well as the German FK1000 was assembled in [[Azambuja]], Portugal, too. In the French, Spanish, Italian, Swiss, [[Benelux]] and Scandinavian markets, both products were found. This turned out to be disadvantageous and cost-intensive especially after the fall of various trade barriers within the newly founded [[EEC]].

For this reason, such a situation with internal competition and parallel developments was very unsatisfactory for the Ford headquarters in Detroit. The aim was to not only standardize the vehicle production ([[world car]]), but also merge the company structures in Europe.
Under parent's dictate, Ford of Britain and Ford-Werke AG started the "Redcap-Project" in the commercial vehicle sector in 1963, from which the Ford Transit was launched in 1965, based on a new unified [[Car platform|platform]].

Two years later in 1967, Ford of Britain and Ford-Werke AG merged to [[Ford of Europe]] with the headquarters in [[Cologne]], Germany. The brand Taunus was taken off the market. Ford forced the standardization of platforms and even model-names overall European market under the Ford brand and logo. After the Ford Transit in 1965, a second unified platform ([[Ford Escort (Europe)|Ford Escort]]) was launched in 1967. With the discontinuation of the [[Ford Zephyr]] (British) and [[Ford P7]] (German) in 1972 all Ford platforms for the European market are unified. Since 1994 (discontinuation of the [[Ford Scorpio|Ford Granada name]]) even the Ford model-names are the same for the European market.