DEARBORN, Michigan — New features on the 2026 Ford Transit commercial van show how Ford Pro is betting on its upfitter partners for growth — and potentially securing a bit of that business, too.

After the Transit marked its 10th anniversary, 98% of the vans Ford Motor Co. has produced remain on the road, according to the company. Nonetheless, engineers and designers at the Dearborn automaker continue to seek ways to better serve customers, whether they're an upfitting company adding bodies, shelving or other equipment to the vehicles for ambulances, plumbers or other commercial buyers, or are using the vehicle as-is from the factory. More than 50% of vehicles sold under Ford Pro — the company's cash-cow commercial division supplying businesses, governments and rental car companies — are upfitted with customizations.

Ford declined to provide a breakout of U.S. sales for Pro, though global wholesale numbers totaled 1.2 million vehicles in the first nine months of 2025, with the division posting $5.6 billion in operating profit. Transit U.S. sales rose 5.9% year-over-year last year.

CEO Jim Farley, in a meeting with upfitters, emphasized creating transparency between them and the automaker, upfitter partners said. Ford has introduced solutions like a vehicle integration system to demystify where in the process of an upfitting job is and what is being put on the vehicle. The goal is to get the product to customers faster and influence future vehicles.

"For the longest time in the entire industry, there was no visibility into that," said Esteban Plaza-Jennings, Ford's upfitter strategy manager. "We kind of knew at a high level based on what options, like, 'Oh, this is gonna be the ambulance, because someone put an ambulance package on it,' but to get more granular: These are getting service bodies. These are getting flatbeds. These are getting water tanks. That's the type of data we're starting to gather now so we can better inform the product development process."

That kind of partnership is also valuable for upfitters, said Mandar Dighe, vice president of sales and marketing for Illinois-based upfitter Knapheide, whose history with Ford dates to the Model T. It helps them serve their customers better and quicker. Sharing information also allows upfitters to know what vehicles and chassis are coming to them.

"Going forward, as the products continue to evolve," Dighe said, "we're going to be integrating more technology into it, so the connection to the OEMs is going to be essential."

With new data centers opening across the country, telecommunication infrastructure being updated and new home builds expected to increase in 2026, upfitters say they expect growing demand this year.

"Making sure that their commercial vehicles cater to their commercial clients keeps them ahead," Sam Fiorani, vice president of global forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions LLC, said about Ford. "They sell more vans than anybody."

Part of Ford's latest effort to address customer needs includes from-the-factory what traditionally could've been reserved for an upfit. The 2026 Transit offers new trade packages. The four options geared toward specific work — electrician, HVAC, general contractor and delivery — outfit the vans directly from the plant's Custom Garage modification centers with shelves, storage, hooks and other equipment designed to meet the needs of customers.

"It's not to be in competition with our upfitters," said Sean Masson, Transit brand marketing manager, "but to provide the uptime to minimize the downtime. By having some of these trade packages from the factory, you're able to have a completed product in a quicker amount of time."

It can also support consistency across vehicles, Masson said. But some upfitters said it could eat into their business.

"It's a touchy area," said Patrick LaRiviere, vice president of engineering for National Fleet Services, a Detroit-based upfitter. "Obviously, if Ford is doing that, it's less meat on the bone for us. But our mission for our customers ultimately is to add value to the end user."

With all of the different jobs upfitters do, from ambulances to cranes to water tanks to delivery trucks and more, the work can range from two hours for a basic upfit to 120 hours for a more involved one. For a mass-market automaker to take on all of that, it would increase downtime and slow the manufacturer from building and selling, LaRiviere said.

"The specific use of the vehicles is so varied," said Stephanie Brinley, associate director for research and analysis of S&P Global Mobility's AutoIntelligence. "The automaker can’t do it all themselves. It wouldn't be viable or profitable with so many small use cases."

That's why partnerships with upfitters that can do those jobs and do them quickly remain important in the commercial vehicle space, said Jason Connell, president and chief operating officer of Reading Truck based out of Pennsylvania.

"When you do that, you will start to lose flexibility to satisfy your end customer," he said about the trade packages. "What we’re trying to do is serve a highly selective market that has very specific needs. A lot of it needs to be tailored to those individual users."

He expects there could be secondary upfits for vehicles whose buyers opt for the trade packages after putting them to use, Connell said, imagining customers might say: "Yeah, I thought I was getting this, but I need these things added."

Knapheide's Dighe said a trade package may just be an easy entrance for an entrepreneur.

"Ford getting those folks started and then encouraging those trades," he said, "to work with upfitters and suppliers and further personalize and equip those vans is something we can all look forward to and continue to grow."

Commercial accessories are nothing new, and Ford previously had a similar program for the E-Series vans, Plaza-Jennings said.

"We're trying to help out smaller dealers who aren't as adept in the commercial space, give them a turnkey solution or easy offering for Transit outfit packages," he said. "They might be in the middle of South Dakota, and there's not a traditional upfitter there to service them from a van interior's perspective."

The 2026 Transit also has features to support Ford's upfitting partners. A prime example is the new vehicle integration system. First introduced on Super Duty pickup trucks, the technology eases the process upfitters take to allow drivers to control after-factory-added lights, security systems, locks and other electrical systems.

Instead of cutting into panels around the vehicle to access wires and mounting separate buttons or switches, a module accessible through a panel on the driver's side can be programmed. Then users can access the features through the up-to-32 soft buttons on the van's touchscreen. In effect, it helps "marry" the front of the vehicle with the back, Masson said.

"There are other modules that the competition has. They're not as customizable as what we have," Plaza-Jennings said. "Our approach to this was trying to cover as many applications as possible."

With the vehicle integration system on the Super Duty, Ford has gained a greater understanding of the range of applications for upfitters and is continuing to add features to grow the addressable market.

"It makes all the content added at National Fleet Services much more seamless without the need for additional wires or switches," LaRiviere said about the vehicle integration system. "Everything is right there at your fingertips."

Connell said VIS is another example of Ford's focus on offering a one-stop solution for commercial customer needs. The Blue Oval a couple of years ago restructured its vehicle modification accreditation program as the Ford Pro Upfitter Program that includes certain standards, a site audit and training, tool and processes requirements. The program also supports information sharing between the partners.

"Ford is taking a leadership role in this," Reading Truck's Connell said about supporting upfitters. "They've identified these needs ahead of others. Ford genuinely wants to listen."

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