"Ford has released few details of the new vehicle thus far, but it says the Transit van sold here will get gas mileage ratings at least 25 percent higher than today's E-Series vans--lowering both CO2 emissions and customer running costs as a byproduct.
The current European Transit is a rear-wheel drive model offered with a variety of four- and five-cylinder turbodiesel engines as well as a 2.3-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine. Like the smaller and unrelated Transit Connect van, it's built in Turkey for sale globally. More than 6 million have been sold.
U.S. models will likely offer at least one EcoBoost direct-injected and turbocharged gasoline engine. Whether Ford offers a clean diesel model remains up in the air, though fleet owners are likely to push heavily for at least one such offering.
The Transit van coming in 2013 won't replace the entire E-Series line; heavier-duty chassis-cab versions of the old E-Series will remain in production for most of the current decade.
The light-duty models will transition to the Transit by 2014, however, which will also offer far more modern technology, and better handling. Part of the fuel economy improvement will come from weight reduction; Ford says the new van will be 300 pounds lighter than today's comparable E-Series models."
from this article:
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2011/12/ ... test=faces
and from cars.com:
"We'll keep you posted as we learn more about the next-gen Transit, but Ford officials told the Detroit News the next-gen Transit will be unibody, not body-on-frame like the E-Series, and 25% more fuel efficient because it will shed 300 pounds."