Dropping a segment GM had already abandoned for the past several years, Ford will no longer sell the Ford Transit Connect van in either the U.S. or Canada following the 2023 model year.
The Ford Transit Connect is a small commercial van, a vehicle type no longer in strong demand in North America, as reported by Automotive News.
Plans to build the Ford Transit Connect in Mexico were also recently scrapped. Ford will continue building its commercial van model in Spain, but instead of some Transit Connects being exported to the U.S., all Spanish production will henceforth be directed to European markets.
Several other automakers are also ending availability of the small commercial vans in the United States and Canada. These include Stellantis, which is pulling its Ram ProMaster City from the North American market, and Mercedes-Benz, which is following suit with its Metris passenger and cargo vans.
GM abandoned the small commercial van market back in 2018 when it decided to discontinue its Nissan NV200-based Chevy City Express following weak sales. The 2018 Chevrolet City Express was officially discontinued in July 2018, though production had actually ceased at in January of that year.
Sales numbers for the Chevy City Express fell far short of its rivals. The General sold 6,341 units of the City Express in all of calendar 2018, a fraction of the 31,923 Ford Transit Connect units purchased during the same timeframe. Other 2018 small commercial van sales figures include 18,628 Nissan NV200s and 13,788 ProMaster City vans from Ram. GM has not offered a new small commercial van since.
2023 Ford Transit Connect interior
However, while small commercial vans like the Ford Transit Connect are being phased out in the North American market by multiple manufacturers, GM is busy launching all-electric full-size commercial vans through its BrightDrop subsidiary.
Since its 2021 debut, BrightDrop has launched several products. One of these is the BrightDrop Trace, an electrically assisted cargo pallet or e-cart that rolls on four wheels. Powered by a built-in electric hub motor, the Trace allows drivers to handle 25 percent more packages daily.
The vehicles produced by BrightDrop include the upcoming BrightDrop Zevo 400, a commercial EV van with 400 cubic feet of cargo space. The subsidiary also produces the BrightDrop Zevo 600, an electric vehicle boasting 250 miles of range per charge along with more than 600 cubic feet of cargo room. Production of the Zevo 600 began at the GM CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Canada in December 2022.
BrightDrop Zevo 600 vans in FedEx livery
Some BrightDrop Zevo 600 vans are already in service in California with FedEx. The large commercial EV van model is motivated by GM Ultium batteries and GM Ultium Drive motors.
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Comments
The used market in these vans tells a very different story. Could it be low sales due to lack of availability ?
Many Transit Connects that I have seen in town are rusting.
They started selling them in 2009, mostly as a work vehicle.
GM never sold many of these rebadged Nissan vans , They were never marketed , nor was there any inventory.
These were launched due to to initial success of the Ford Transit Connect, but GM was never serious about competing in this segment and the product offered was DOA
Great news! Transits are garbage quality disposable razors, good riddance.
I’ve seen a lot of them on the road over the years. What are the issues with them, transmissions, suspension or?
I was going to buy a used one for my business but if they have reliability issues, forget it.
I work on fedex express trucks and they bought a bunch of them, there hard to maintain, driveshaft couplers, transmissions, front suspension issues, to service a transmission on one your nearly have to pull the whole front sub frame out. The pan wont come off. They chew up tires like crazy. There ok new, but after about 100k if the first trans makes it that far, get rid of it.
I’m highly suspect of anyone giving advice who doesn’t know the difference between Transit and Transit Connect.
Ford made a mistake when they dropped the 1st generation Transit Connect’s tall roof and went shorter with the current Transit Connect.
GM could bring back the Astro Van and have a huge hit on their hands in the commercial market. It was the perfect size for a lot of applications.
I agree, with engines like the 2.7 on duty or maybe the 3.6 and without really any competition, that would make sense for passenger and commercial purposes considering the gas and parts costs. The old Astro was a hard worker but the 4.3 was kind of a thirsty one. The Astro (RWD or AWS) would serve well for small businesses and families
best van i have worked on is any of the 2010-2012 or so 2500 chevy express or gmc savanas with the 4.8 init. With the 4.8 init it does not have dod, the brakes were awesome, didnt get great mpg but 14-18 depending on driving. Also most all the parts swap out with these vans.
We had two Astro vans and a Safari van in the extended family- everyone liked them.
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