This Postman Pat-looking van is set to become Ford’s least expensive passenger car after it kills off its best-selling models in the coming months.
The new second-generation Tourneo Courier will go on sale later this year and will become the cheapest vehicle in showrooms once Fiesta production ends this summer and the larger Focus hatchback is culled in early 2025.
The entry petrol version will start from just over £20,000 in the UK and feature a turbocharged 1.0-litre engine, with order books opening in the summer.
And a fully-electric E Tourneo Courier will follow in 2024 as the US brand looks to accelerate its shift to electric-only cars.
Ford’s soon-to-be least expensive car: New Tourneo Courier family model has been unveiled and will go on sale in 2023. It will then become the most affordable vehicle in Ford showrooms
Ford bosses today confirmed that the Tourneo Courier will be on sale shortly and first deliveries are due to arrive with UK customers before the end of the year.
It shares a platform with the Puma SUV and will be built at the same plant in Craiova, Romania.
It will take the vacant slot in Ford’s model line-up relinquished by the soon-to-be-terminated Ecosport.
And with other – very popular – cars set be axed from Ford’s line-up in the coming months, it will soon become the company’s least expensive car.
The current cheapest car sold by Ford dealers is the Fiesta, starting from £19,350.
However, Britain’s most-owned motor is due to cease production next month, bringing to an end 47 years of availability.
Some 1.5million Britons drive a Fiesta today and it was the best-selling motor in the UK for a 12-year period spanning from 2009 to 2020.
And it’s not just the Fiesta that’s soon going to disappear.
The larger Focus is also due to be discontinued from 2025 as Ford has a huge shake-up of its vehicle range as it pushes ahead with its electrification strategy.
Almost 5million Ford Fiestas have been bought by Britons over the last 37 years, but the US brand has confirmed it will cease production of the popular supermini next month
Ford bosses have also confirmed that the Focus will be axed from 2025 as the company looks to ramp-up its EV availability
The Tourneo Courier will then become the cheapest car to sport the blue-oval badge, with prices expected to start at just over £20,000.
A spokesperson for Ford told us it will sit under the Puma in the pricelist, with the compact SUV today priced from £24,940.
When order books for the Tourneo Courier open, the first available with be powered by a 123bhp 1.0-litre turbo petrol Ecoboost engine – the same one fitted to the last-off-the-line Fiestas.
It can be ordered with the choice of a six-speed manual gearbox or – for a slight premium – seven-speed automatic transmission.
What it will lack in style and aerodynamic sleekness it makes up for with loads of cabin space, with plenty of head, shoulder and leg-room for all five occupants.
The boot should be capacious too and the interior featuring a number of practical features, include a pair of sliding rear doors for easy entry and exit in the back.
It even has a storage compartment for muddy shoes.
The Tourneo Courier will then become the cheapest car to sport the blue-oval badge, with prices expected to start at just over £20,000
This Postman Pat-looking van is set to become Ford’s least expensive passenger car after it kills off its best-selling models in the coming months
When order books for the Tourneo Courier open, the first available with be powered by a 123bhp 1.0-litre turbo petrol Ecoboost engine – the same one fitted to the last-off-the-line Fiestas
Ford confirms there will be no diesel variants… but there will be an all-electric version from 2024.
Full details of the battery-only E Tourneo Courier remain under wraps until closer to its launch, though bosses say it will use a 134bhp motor on the front axle, have a limited top speed of 90mph and be fast charged from 10 to 80 per cent in less than 35 minutes.
Ford adds that a 10 minute boost of electricity will add some 54 miles of range, which hints at a battery capacity of around 55kW. That should offer a range of around 230 miles.
A typical 7kW overnight domestic charge from 10 to 100 per cent takes 7.8 hours, it claims.
Speaking at the unveiling in Copenhagen on Monday, Jim Farley, Ford president and chief executive, said: ‘Exciting new products like E Tourneo Courier are the future of Ford in Europe – electric, fun, and fuelled by a restless need for adventure.
‘Our new all-electric multi-activity vehicle is the latest demonstration of our multi-billion dollar global push to scale EV production and deliver connected, must-have vehicles for our customers.’
The E Tourneo Courier will count towards Ford’s quota of 10 EVs on sale in Europe by 2024.
What it will lack in style and aerodynamic sleekness it makes up for with loads of cabin space, with plenty of head, shoulder and leg-room for all five occupants
Despite sharing looks with the Transit Courier, the Tourneo Courier uses the same front-wheel-drive platform as the current Fiesta and Puma SUV
There looks to be heaps of rear head, shoulder and leg room thanks to the boxy proportions of the car
The boot should be very capacious for a family motor. The 66:33 folding rear seats will add to the practicality
Full details of the battery-only E Tourneo Courier remain under wraps until closer to its launch, though bosses say it will use a 134bhp motor on the front axle, have a limited top speed of 90mph and be fast charged from 10 to 80 per cent in less than 35 minutes
It will join the recently-unveiled Explorer SUV – which is the first model built on Volkswagen’s existing electric car platform – as well as a yet-to-be-revealed fully-electric Puma, full-size E Transit, E Transit Custom and E Transit Courier.
The seventh EV – which will be the second to use VW’s platform – should also be confirmed soon, and will be a sportier SUV that will reportedly see the reintroduction of the Capri nameplate that was shelved 37 years ago.
The company is investing $50billion globally through 2026 to achieve a targeted run rate of more than two million all-electric vehicles by the end of that year.
The first cars with internal combustion engines go on sale soon – and be delivered before the end of the year. One can be ordered with a six-speed manual gearbox or seven-speed auto
The Tourneo Courier is so practical that it even has a storage compartment where you can store muddy shoes and trainers
Speaking at the E Tourneo’s unveiling in Copenhagen on Monday, Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO, said it will be ‘electric, fun, and fuelled by a restless need for adventure’
