Final item on the agenda: Transit Connect
Ford is considering the Focus-based Transit Connect for Australia, but the short-term prospects are not brightThe announcement that Ford would not build the Focus in Australia also put an end to any chance of the Kuga SUV or any other vehicle mounted on the Focus platform being built here. Like the Kuga -- a car that Ford Australia would like to release here at the earliest possible convenience -- there'll be no locally-built C-Max or Transit Connect.
But as imported products they're still "on the table", according to Ford's Communications Manager, Sinead McAlary.
It's not like either the peoplemover or the light van would generate as many sales as the Kuga or the Focus, but the Transit Connect in particular could break away from Ford's traditional sales base in Australia and earn some incremental revenue.
The Transit Connect fits somewhere in size between short and long-wheelbase versions of popular light vans such as the Citroen Berlingo and Volkswagen Caddy/Caddy Maxi.
With a wheelbase of 2.9m, it's longer between front and rear axles than the Berlingo, and almost as long as Volkswagen's Caddy Maxi. Its cargo volume of 3.8 cubic metres improves on the figures for the Caddy and Berlingo, but doesn't match the cargo volume of the Caddy Maxi (4.2m).
McAlary is a fan of the Transit Connect -- as well as the Kuga -- but the Turkish-built van is an unknown quantity for Ford Australia. Marketing such a vehicle is a hurdle and profitability, as a factor of sales volume, is another hurdle.
"[Transit Connect] is a really good vehicle and it's going gang-busters everywhere it's sold," McAlary informed the Carsales Network.
"It is something we're looking at here, but it's just not quite there yet. There's gotta be a market for it, a business case, availability, all that sort of stuff. All the stars have to align -- and they're not there yet."
For the year to date, Volkswagen has sold 1124 units of the Caddy and Caddy Maxi --- and that, from an importer with a smaller dealer network than Ford's, should provide Ford with some hope that there's a market in Australia for the Transit Connect. All the same, McAlary says the Transit Connect is not likely to launch here anytime soon.
"It's not in our near-term future, but it's still on our shopping list."
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