Ford will debut the first of its new generation of big vans at the 2012 Geneva auto show in the form of the Tourneo Custom concept. Don’t let the name throw you: the Tourneo is a short, low-roof van built off of the Transit platform that’s sold in Europe. Despite the company’s proclamation that the European Transit van will become a global Transit van, this particular one’s not coming to the U.S. We’ll explain why.
Like Ford’s outgoing European van platform, the company’s newest van architecture will be highly variable. The Tourneo shown above, for example, is a light-duty, front-wheel-drive version. It’s capable of hauling plenty of people and stuff, but it’s more of what we’d call a “half-ton” truck rather than a “three-quarter-ton” or a “one-ton.” The same architecture, with heavy modifications, will underpin the Transit we see in the U.S.: a heavy-duty, rear-wheel-drive van that Ford has said is coming in 2013. The platform can even handle all-wheel drive, but we don’t expect that to be offered here.
The European Tourneo is powered by a 2.2-liter diesel four, and this concept uses a version of that engine making 153 hp and mated to a six-speed manual transmission. Ford says the Tourneo’s interior was a big focus, claiming that premium materials make for an attractive cabin. (We haven’t seen it yet to judge for ourselves.) With competition in Europe coming in part from vans with a three-pointed star on their hoods, it seems a reasonable product-development decision. New tech (for a van, anyway) offered on the Tourneo that may make it to our Transit includes SYNC, a rearview camera, a driver-fatigue monitor, and lane-departure warning.
The styling on the Tourneo does preview what we’ll see with the Transit sold here. Ford is promising to show those new Transits later on this year.
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