Ford Transit Connect on the cards

Ford Australia says it continues to consider importing the compact van, which would rival the Volkswagen Caddy, Renault Kangoo and Citroen Berlingo, but has not made a decision either way. The Transit connect goes on sale later this year in Europe. It sits below the mid-sized Transit Custom, which has just gone on sale in Australia, as well as the large Transit Cargo, which arrives here mid-year.

“Transit Connect represents a potential opportunity for us, but one that we will continue to explore before we have anything to add,” says Ford Australia’s SUV and light truck manager, Danni Winter. When translated from corporate speak, that means “we aren’t sure whether to bring it here at the moment.”

The Connect business case probably isn’t strong enough at this moment, but that could change. Ford Australia spokesman, Neil McDonald, says the market is changing rapidly and that could mean the Connect does end up heading this way. “If there is a growing groundswell that can make that a viable proposition, we are certainly going to be looking at it,” he says.

The Connect consideration comes after Mercedes-Benz dramatically changed direction and decided to cancel its plans to bring the Citan compact van to Australia. Based on the Kangoo and made by Renault, the Citan would have struggled because it was not available with an automatic transmission, unlike the Caddy, which dominates the class.

Mercedes was also worried it would have to sell the van at extremely low prices that would reduce the amount of profit sold on each van as well as potentially hurting the image of Mercedes in the process. It is not yet clear whether an automatic transmission would be made available with the Transit Connect. The vehicle will be available with a range of diesel and petrol engines in Europe.