Ford could soon begin building a new small van at its Hermosillo plant in Mexico.
Reports suggest that the car manufacturer has requested parts quotes for a new van currently codenamed V758 that could go into production in 2023. Ford has also informed suppliers that it could build 40,000 units of the van annually.
Auto News suggests that the new van will serve as a replacement to the Transit Connect.
Read Also: Who Said The Ford Transit Connect Can’t Look Cool? Meet The MS-RT R120 Special Edition
This new van is expected to use the carmaker’s C2 front-wheel drive/all-wheel drive architecture used by the Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair. As of late 2019, Ford had intended on using this platform to underpin up to 11 models, representing 2 million vehicles by 2023, but it remains to be seen if those plans remain. The van would be manufactured alongside the new Maverick pickup truck at the plant, as well as the Ford Bronco Sport which is already in production.
Ford revealed in March 2019 that it would begin to source the Transit Connect from Mexico in 2021 but that plan was soon put on hold in the wake of contract negotiations with the UAW union. Ford currently imports the small van from Spain and as recently as last year it was claimed that the next-generation Transit Connect would be imported from Europe through Ford’s partnership with Volkswagen.
Ford has declined to comment on the reports and has also yet to confirm the existence of the new compact Maverick pickup, even though the Hermosillo plant has been building prototypes since at least January.
