CEO Ing. Matthias Pajek had the idea for the 123 van when his father-in-law asked him to deliver his new kitchen. He wanted to rent a van for this purpose. However, there were no more available vans available from local van rental companies and the nearest larger rental car company was in Vienna, 80 kilometers away. He then recognized the potential and quickly bought an old van even after the first lockdown in April 2020 and offered it for rent. Back then, customers still had to call on their cell phone to book the van, and the access code for the key box attached to the outside of the van was sent manually via SMS.
A lot has now happened, a specially developed app makes access easier and around 25 employees, together with the fleet partners, look after around 430 vehicles, 330 of which are the Ford Transit and Ford Transit Custom* models.
The Transit family is one of Ford’s most traditional series and has been at the forefront of commercial vehicles across Europe for years. The L2 and L3 versions are used on the 123 transporter. The cargo area is light and easy to access thanks to double-wing rear doors, a wide-opening sliding door and a built-in bumper running board. Rounded off by a spacious, clearly designed interior and the convenience of driver assistance systems, the Transit offers everything and more you could want from a transporter.
So far, 330 Ford vehicles have been delivered and another 50 have already been ordered. The vans can be rented throughout Austria; they have already expanded to Germany and the Czech Republic, and will soon also be expanded to Slovenia and Hungary.
To ensure that the vehicles are optimally prepared and maintained for use, the company WEBA Gmbh is responsible for Austria and the south of Germany: they provide the vehicles, take care of the app installation and ensure that downtimes do not occur in the first place. A system for keyless handover using a cell phone was also implemented here, with Ford’s own “Telematics” system playing an important (key) role. These conversions are in turn carried out by Ford Luckerbauer in Krumbach.
The use of electric vans is also being considered for the future in order to make the fleet even more sustainable. Ford is the perfect partner here, as it offers a whole range of electrified solutions with the E-Transit, the E-Transit Custom, the Transit Connect PHEV and the E-Transit Courier.
You can find high-resolution images for this press release in our Media Center media.ford.com.
*The new Transit Custom was named International Transporter of the Year 2024 and has been leading European sales statistics in the 1.0 tonne payload class for years. The new generation has been following in the bestseller’s footsteps since the beginning of 2024: It is based on a completely redesigned vehicle architecture and impresses with even greater loading capacity, easier access, improved driving comfort and sophisticated user-friendliness as well as optimized driving performance and driving characteristics.
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