Invest News DetailStar - Although New York’s Taxi of the Future tender did not fare well for the Turkish entry Karsan, the city that never sleeps has chosen another Turkish manufactured vehicle as an interim solution until the next generation of yellow cabs enters service in 2013. Türkiye’s Ford Otosan, the Turkish division of Ford Motor Company, shipped the first 200 of as-yet-undetermined number of Transit Connects, from its production plant in Türkiye’s Kocaeli province to serve New Yorkers as cabs. Specially equipped for taxi use, the yellow-painted Connect will replace the ailing vehicles of New York’s 13,000-strong taxi fleet run by independent companies. “The Turkish-manufactured Transit Connect Taxi will be marketed to taxi companies in NYC,” said Ford Otosan’s General Manager Nuri Otay, during the ceremony that marked the first shipment of vehicles to New York, without providing information on the total number of sales to the city. Ford Otosan has been exporting Transit Connect vehicles to Ford’s home country since late 2009. Transit Connect was named the “North American Truck of the Year” in 2010.