Ford, Stellantis phasing out compact commercial vans

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis N.V. are planning to phase out their Transit Connect and Ram ProMaster City compact commercial vans in the coming year or so, according to recent reporting by Automotive News, a Tire Business sister publication..

The companies' decisions come as that segment contracts while the delivery sector transitions to electric vans.

Ford has canceled plans to build the next-generation Transit Connect van in Mexico and will stop selling the vehicle in the U.S. by year-end 2023, Automotive News reported Aug. 23, citing information from three individuals with knowledge of the decision,

Ford imports the Transit Connect from Spain, but in 2021 developed a plan to produce a next-generation version, code-named V758, at its Hermosillo, Mexico, assembly plant starting in 2023. It would have been built on the same platform as the Maverick compact pickup and Bronco Sport, which also are assembled in Hermosillo.

The auto maker since has scrapped that plan, according to the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss internal decisions that have not been made public. Ford will stop importing the van for the U.S. market, the individuals said, although the nameplate will live on as a Europe-only model.

Stellantis plans to discontinue the Ram ProMaster City, the smaller of the truck brand's two van offerings, after the 2022 model year. Stallantis has sold the PoMaster City, which is built in a Fiat factory in Turkey, since 2015.

ProMaster City deliveries peaked in 2016 at 15,972 units before falling in each of the next four years to 10,409 vehicles in 2020. After a 40% rise in 2021, ProMaster City sales fell by a third in the first half of this year, to 8,593 units.

The Transit Connect leads the shrinking segment, although U.S. sales have fallen 15% this year to 15,919 vehicles through July.

"That particular segment has shrunk every year for the last four or five years, and it's overall become very difficult from a regulatory environment and also from that volume-commitment perspective," Dave Sowers, head of Ram Commercial, told Automotive News.

"So we're really refocusing all of our efforts in the commercial van segments over on the ProMaster."

Nissan Motor Co. ended North American sales of all small and full-size vans in 2021, and General Motors Co. shelved the Chevrolet City Express small van, which was produced by Nissan, in 2018.

Consumers who turned to the smaller ProMaster City for fuel economy, Sowers said, could be drawn by the upcoming electric ProMaster that arrives in 2023. Amazon.com Inc. will be the first commercial customer for the battery-electric ProMaster.

"The fuel prices historically pushed people to smaller vans," Sowers said. "Now we're going to start looking at electrified solutions that are more capable and more flexible than what was there in the past."

Ford likely can make up lost Transit Connect sales with its growing lineup of full-size Transit vans. It recently introduced the E-Transit EV and plans to add an off-road-focused Transit Trail gasoline-powered variant early next year, according to two people familiar with the plans.

_____________________________________________________

Article based on reporting by Automotive News reporters Vince Bond Jr. and Michael Martinez