3 of 6
BACKNEXT
Ford -- Crashed out
Ford -- Crashed out
Ford hoped to keep New York City's taxi business with its Transit Connect van. Ford makes most of the taxis used in New York City now. The huge Crown Victoria sedan has long been a favorite of taxi fleet owners. With recent demand for fuel-saving hybrid cabs, the Escape crossover SUV taxi has become a common sight in the city, too.

The Transit Connect didn't make the cut this time, though. One reason, according to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was that Ford refused to crash test the Transit connect with all the taxi equipment, including the plastic partition separating the driver and passengers, in place.

Nissan agreed to that and even proposed special passenger airbags for its vehicle.

A Ford Motor Co. spokesman said the automaker had, in fact, offered to work with a "qualified upfitter" -- meaning a company that modifies cars for taxi cab or other uses -- to create a crash-ready Transit Connect van.



NEXT: Ford -- Look at all the tall luggage!
Last updated May 03 2011: 5:24 PM ET
More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More

Special Offer

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.