Transit Connect Based Mav Platform Cancelled

[rlhdweman]

I wonder if this is a CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency) issue? The required minimum MPG go up by about 1-2 MPG per year. All the small vans get around 25 MPG and have a footprint probably around 48-52 square feet (the Maverick is just shy of 53 square feet by my math). The MPG in the graph below is different than the EPA window sticker MPG (since the way it gets calculated changed a few times since CAFE came out) but all the vans are still way off. This means an additional $1k-$2k in tax per vehicle and that number goes up by about $500 per year. Since this tax is at the manufacturer's level, the end-buyer cost is probably twice that. That quickly makes these small vans not economically feasible to make. Much easier for the manufacturer to just increase the vehicle footprint (i.e., bigger van/truck/suv).

Interesting graph, except our Mavericks, trucks are not even up to 2012 levels yet!

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[MarcusBrody]

I own a Transit Connect and a Maverick based TC was basically my ideal vehicle. I use the Transit Connect it as my adventure/road trip vehicle and have been all over the US, often on remote dirt roads, all while hauling three people, sometimes a dog, and a whole ton of stuff for multi-week, off grid camping roadtrips. When not road tripping, I just toss my mountain bike inside the van.

I'm excited for my Maverick, but I think the van form factor is even better for a lot of outdoor activities. You can fit so much inside due to the cubic form factor of the back. The Maveric was shorter and has a higher load floor, so you can't get as much in the bed without it sticking over the top and what's in the bed will be exposed to dust/rain/people/etc. unless you get a cover. Plus, when I'm not using it for outdoor stuff, I can pop the two rear seats in the far back and carry seven.

The only downside with the Transit Connect is its low ground clearance (and to a lesser extent, lack of AWD). I was really hoping that they'd come out with a hybrid AWD Maverick and later a hybrid AWD Transit Connect with similar ground clearance. Put a Honda Element-like cleanable interior on it and it would have been my ultimate vehicle.

My suspicion is that Ford thinks that it doesn't make sense to develop a new gas Transit Connect right now as the vast majority sold are fleet users who may be tempted into going electric soon. I see very few private, passenger Transit Connects on the road, so I assume that it's fleet sales that is driving things.

 

[PlantMan]

In 2020, the Ford Transit Connect and Ram ProMaster City finally lost the tariff loophole that allowed them to be imported as passenger vans and then converted to cargo vans in the US.

 

[JimParker256]

Interesting graph, except our Mavericks, trucks are not even up to 2012 levels yet!

The way I read that, the 2022 target for the Maverick (@ 53 sq ft, average track times wheelbase) would be around 36 mpg. The hybrid exceeds that, at 37 combined.

Gee - I suddenly feel so virtuous!

 

[MarcusBrody]

In 2020, the Ford Transit Connect and Ram ProMaster City finally lost the tariff loophole that allowed them to be imported as passenger vans and then converted to cargo vans in the US.

This was the main expected impetus for moving the production of the Transit Connect to the Hermisillo plant that makes the Maverick and Bronco Sport. If it was produced in a NAFTA country, it wouldn't be subject to the tax.

 

[rlhdweman]

The way I read that, the 2022 target for the Maverick (@ 53 sq ft, average track times wheelbase) would be around 36 mpg. The hybrid exceeds that, at 37 combined.

Gee - I suddenly feel so virtuous!

I should have phrased that, "with the exceptions of our Mavericks"

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