- The Ford Transit Connect has been on sale in the U.S. market since 2010.
- Due to slow sales, the automaker reportedly plans to discontinue the model after 2023.
- Ford originally developed a plan to build a next-generation Transit Connect in Mexico, but has since scrapped those plans.
- The company has not officially commented on this report, as automakers typically will not comment on future product plans.
After next year, you’ll reportedly lose yet another option if you need a small van.
Automotive News reported Wednesday that the long-running Ford Transit Connect will be discontinued from the U.S. market after next year. According to sources close to the matter, Ford scrapped plans earlier this year to build a next-generation model alongside the Maverick and Bronco Sport in Hermosillo, Mexico. Those earlier ambitions, according to reports, included adapting the C2 platform that underpins the Ford Escape, Bronco Sport, Maverick and the Lincoln Corsair.
With its departure, the small commercial van market continues to shrink, though slow sales have prompted other automakers to drop their models in recent years. The Nissan NV200 and Chevrolet City Express were among the first to disappear, and we’ll soon see the end of the Mercedes-Benz Metris in the U.S. as well. The Ram ProMaster City seems to be the last small van standing, though it’s unclear at this point how long that may be the case.
Ford currently builds all Transit Connect vans in Valencia, Spain, where it then imports the model to the U.S. If Ford eventually confirms this report, the van will only live on as a European market model after 2023. So far this year (through June 2022), the automaker shifted just 15,919 Transit Connect vans to U.S. buyers.
Will demand shift toward larger vans?
As companies continue to pull out of the smaller van market, they may home in on Americans’ appetite for larger vans. Not only is the full-size Transit available for business and retail customers, but several other options are also still available. Among the larger variants, folks can choose the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, full-size Ram ProMaster and the Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana (at least for now). Only Nissan has left the U.S. commercial van market entirely, with both the NV200 and the full-size, Titan-based NV.
