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by kyledrake2 days ago |
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upvoteby masklinn2 days ago|
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> All micro cargo van providers have stopped building them. The Transit Connect, Metris, Promaster City and NV200 are all now discontinued.

This is an entirely american problem, because the small van is largely dead in the US. They're doing fine elsewhere.

The Metris is still manufactured (as the Vito, or V260 in China), and is not the smallest model which is the Citan (based on the Kangoo, with its second gen based on kangoo III in 2021).

The Promaster City (Fiat Doblo) still exists, as a rebadged Berlingo since 2022.

The NV 200 was replaced by the NV 250 (a rebadged Kangoo II) in 2019, which was then replaced by the Townstar (a rebadged Kangoo III) in late 2021. There's also the Docker / Express below that (which descends from the Logan MCV / Van).

And the Transit Connect was replaced by the Caddy (rebadged), but Ford dropped its original plans of a US release.

> There is an enormous category of consumers that just want an auto that's simple, affordable, safe, fuel efficient and reasonably sized.

Apparently not sufficiently so (or with a consistent enough need) that they can be catered to. Or at least not so that you couldn't make more money selling them pavement princesses.

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upvoteby rjsw2 days ago|
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Ford have an even smaller van than the Transit Connect, the Transit Courier, I am considering an electric one for my next car.

Maybe Slate could offer a van version as well as the SUV.

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upvoteby ethbr12 days ago|
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To give credit where credit is due, the ~$25k Ford Maverick was a decent step towards "enough" vehicle for many people, while minimizing cost.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a64351746/2025-ford-mav...

And definitely went the other way from the industry.

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upvoteby BirAdam2 days ago|
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Yeah, except dealers ruined it. I wanted to buy one but every single dealership had them at $10k over MSRP.
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upvoteby ethbr11 days ago|
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That's a supply:demand problem that will normalize in the long run though. Ford hedges their bets by not producing something risky at full-tilt; dealers maximize their profitability with an in demand model. (Especially since they're not making the absolute markup by selling full-loaded F150s at higher price points)
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upvoteby Marsymars1 days ago|
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Ford’s pretty heavily discouraging that, and the supply/demand on the Maverick has pretty much equalized now. I put down a deposit for one recently under MSRP.
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upvoteby klipklop2 days ago|
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Too bad the "ecoboost" engines in them are total garbage.
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upvoteby kevin_thibedeau2 days ago|
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The 2.0 doesn't have the problems that the 2.3 Ecoboost has. The '25 model has port injection added to deal with carbonization.
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