Just over one year ago, a report surfaced containing all sorts of interesting information as it pertains to future Blue Oval products – one that stemmed from a meeting that the automaker held with its dealer network. At that meeting, Ford reportedly showed off a number of potential future models to dealers via renderings, photos, and mock-ups, including quite a few potential Ford Mustang variants. However, those dealers were also shown something else that’s rather interesting – a small van based on the Ford Maverick compact pickup, which is apparently still on track to reach production.
At that time, a physical prototype of this Ford Maverick based van was actually pushed on stage, after which the automaker informed dealers that it was slated to debut as early as 2025. FoMoCo didn’t share timing in terms of production or even what this mysterious van might be called, but did note that it’s slated to replace the Transit Connect, which was discontinued in North America following the 2023 model year. Now, according to a new report from Automotive News, the Maverick van will debut a bit later than previously expected, however.
Now, the Ford Maverick based van – code-named V758 – is expected to enter production in 2028, and it will apparently do so with both traditional gas and hybrid powertrains and styling that mimics its pickup counterpart. The new van will reportedly be built alongside the Ford Maverick and Ford Bronco Sport at the Hermosillo Assembly plant in Mexico, too.
Previously, Ford planned to build a next-generation Transit Connect at the Hermosillo plant, as Ford Authority reported in 2021, which was slated to ride on the C2 platform that underpins both of those models. However, it ultimately decided not to pursue that avenue amid falling compact van sales in the U.S. Regardless, the Transit Connect lives on in Europe, albeit as what is essentially a rebadged Volkswagen model stemming from the partnership agreement those two automakers forged a few years ago.
Comments
Delays, further delays, cancellations, and plans that change with the wind… if you told me the product planners at Ford had all been fired and not replaced, I wouldn’t be surprised. Saying that a new vehicle based on an existing model will be in production four years after it was announced is essentially saying, “We haven’t decided yet.”
I understand that EV adoption and tariffs have greatly complicated the automotive landscape, but other manufacturers seem to be able to plan, produce, and sell new vehicles on a regular basis.
I 100% agree with your statements. I thought all of the lessons learned from the new EV program were supposed to speed up the time it takes to get new vehicles to the market. What the hell have they been doing for the last few years aside from killing off models without direct replacements and wasting money on aborted EV programs.
It blows my mind that Ford decided to exit the largest selling vehicle segment, the midsized SUV. The best selling vehicle is now the Rav4 over the F150, and Ford drops the Escape and Corsair! Replace them with a stronger Escape/Corsair and compete in that market!
Ford is full of cowards who just concede vehicle segment after vehicle segment to other companies. It’s gotten real tiresome to watch. And with a recall of a few hundred thousand more vehicles every three days I can’t believe Ford even still exists.
Sadly Ford cannot compete with the Rav 4 or the Hyundai Tucson because of quality problems. The Ford Edge was as close as they came, or go back to the 90s and the original Explorer was close. They make everything larger and more expensive over time, thinking of profit over the customer to the point no one will buy the Fod SUVs. How about a small SUV based on the Maverick but with better quality ? If I can think of this, Ford should be able to think of it too !
Maybe Ford should just go back to regular cars. Since at least they’d be cheaper than worthless massive suv’s and trucks that are always being recalled.
So they are bringing back the Flex,essentially. The Maverick is basically the Flex without the row of seating.