If you’ve been thinking about buying a Fiesta Van, time to stop twiddling those thumbs, as Ford’s smallest commercial vehicle will soon be discontinued.
Production will cease in April 2017 in time for the all-new Ford Fiesta supermini to hit showrooms in July. And according to sources at Ford, there are no plans to build another van based on this replacement model, which is set to remain exclusively a passenger car.
UPDATE: Ford has changed its mind, and at the CV Show 2018 launched a brand new Ford Fiesta Van based on the latest model. For more information on the new Fiesta Van and why Ford has now decided to build another one, click here.
Why isn’t Ford building another Fiesta Van?
Never say never – Ford may yet change its mind [as it has – see above]. After all, at one time it said it would never build another Fiesta-sized hot hatch, and now the Fiesta ST is the one to beat in that area of the car market (for details about the all-new one of those, click here).
However, the car-derived commercial vehicle sector is rather small – the only Fiesta Van competitor in the UK at present is the Vauxhall Corsavan (pictured above) – and Ford must be thinking building another one may not be worth the bother.
Especially when it offers the much more practical but still highly compact Transit Courier for as little as £140 more.
On top of which, the new 2017 Fiesta is being positioned as a much posher proposition than the current model, with a wider range model variations on the passenger car front. Ford may be struggling for production capacity, or even competitive commercial vehicle pricing due to the cost of the improved materials.
What should I buy instead of a Fiesta Van?
Well, you could consider the Corsavan. But the more obvious choice is to bite the bullet and go for a Transit Courier (below) instead.
The Courier is less than 20cm longer than the Fiesta Van (4,157mm versus 3,969mm), but offers nearly double the load area volume, with 1.9 cubic metres available instead of a mere 1.0 cubic metre.
It’s also a more practical shape. Yet it’s based on the same underlying components, so the driving experience is actually very similar.
Prices for the Transit Courier start at £11,645, while the Fiesta Van costs from £11,505 – so there’s really not very much in it. The Corsavan, by contrast, starts at £12,485. All pricing exclude VAT.
Ford Transit Courier Sport coming soon
Ok, so the Courier isn’t as sharp to look at as the Fiesta, which may be a disappointment to some buyers who want something slick they can proudly park on their drive.
Ford is, however, hoping to solve this problem with the introduction of a Courier Sport model at the 2017 CV Show in April.
Since 50% of Fiesta Van buyers take the Sport model (pictured above), here’s hoping the Courier Sport really does look smart.
We’ll bring you more info as soon as we have it, and have already spotted a Tourneo Courier facelift prototype in testing.
Read the Ford Fiesta Van review on Parkers Vans
