Ford Tourneo Custom Makes European Market Debut
The Tourneo Custom van was billed as a concept when it debuted at this month's Geneva Motor Show, but Ford was fooling no one.
Now, Ford has announced the European launch of the brand-new van, keeping its Tourneo Custom name – and just ab
The Tourneo Custom van was billed as a concept when it debuted at this month's Geneva Motor Show, but Ford was fooling no one.
Now, Ford has announced the European launch of the brand-new van, keeping its Tourneo Custom name - and just about all of its "concept" styling.
In production form, the Tourneo Custom replaces its gloss-black exterior highlights with a flat black, while the LED-strip running lights in the bumper have been replaced with regular fog lights (although higher-spec variants may hold onto those LEDs).
Debuting in people-mover form, Ford confirmed at Geneva that the Tourneo Custom will also form the basis of a new small front-wheel-drive Transit van later this year, with a new larger Transit to follow.
While the smaller Transit will compete in the midsized commercial van market, the larger version will offering higher payload capacity, long- and short-wheelbase variants, and a rear-wheel-drive layout.
For the Tourneo, Ford promises car-like handling and a driver-focused cockpit with "the ambience and high-quality materials of a modern multi-seat saloon car".
The new Tourneo and Transit ranges will be powered by Ford's new 2.2 litre Duratorq TDCi diesel engine in three states of tune: 75, 90 and 115kW.
All three transmissions are paired with a six-speed manual transmission, and a start/stop system promises fuel consumption figures as low as 6.9 l/100km.
The Tourneo Custom is not expected to come to Australia - the market for genuine van-based people-movers here is too small - but the commercial variants are likely a shoo-in for 2013 local launches.