Ford uses factories in Turkey to build its little Transit Connect vans. The smallish utility vehicles were never sold in the US until recently. They have been a hit with urban businesses looking to save money by downsizing from a full sizevan. Due to some weird tax laws, Ford has to do some truly screwy stuff to avoid a big tariff on the cars.
The so-called “Chicken Tax” was a measure levied by Europe on American chicken farmers who were starting to sell massive amounts of chicken in Europe. In response to that measure, Lyndon Johnson imposed a tariff on imported trucks and vans. The rule still stands today. It’s one of the main reasons that foreign companies have truck plants here in the US.
As we mentioned, Ford’s plants are in Turkey, so in order to beat the tariff, the vans have to come over as passenger vehicles, equipped with seats and other passenger materials. Once through customs, the vans go to a building and have every seat, seatbelt, cupholder, and other human perk ripped out and destroyed before the vans are shipped onto dealers to be sold.
Instead of sending the stuff back to Turkey to be reused, it all gets destroyed and scrapped, before one bum hits the seat. The Wall Street Journal is all over the story and it makes for a good read.
