Ford's Transit full-size van has become the top-selling family of cargo vans around the globe with nearly 400,000 registered in 2015 based on IHS Markit data, according to Ford.

Ford is expanding its Transit lineup in China as part of its relationship with Jiangling Motors Corp. that started in August of 1995, when the first Ford Transit was produced in December of 1997. Production of the all-new Transit Kombi started in September.

Transit is the best-selling nameplate in the light bus and van segment in China, and is on track to become the best-selling nameplate there for 2016, based on data from China Insurance Information Technology Company.

In the U.S. market, Ford counts 40% of the full-size commercial van market through September, an increase from 36% in 2015. Demand for Transit is putting Ford on track for its best year for U.S. van sales since 1978, based on Ford-reported data.

Overall industry sales for Class 1-3 vans in the U.S. and Mexico are expected to continue growing, according to work truck industry association NTEA, which predicts industry sales will increase 10% in 2016 over 2015.

Transit sales are also growing in Europe, where it has been the best-selling van in its segment in the U.K. since 1984, according to IHS Markit registration data. In the past 25 months, Ford has seen its European commercial vehicle market share grow from 10.8% to 12.9%, based on data from IHS Markit.

This makes Ford the top-selling commercial vehicle brand in Europe for the first time in 18 years due to demand for the Transit range that includes Transit, Transit Custom, Transit Connect and Transit Courier, according to IHS Markit commercial vehicle registrations.

Ford has been producing the Transit since Aug. 9, 1965, when the first van left the production line in Langley, England. Ford introduced the Transit into the U.S. market in 2014 as a replacement for the E-Series. More than 8 million Transit and Transit Custom vehicles have been built since that time.