Global collaboration: Ford Tourneo Connect’s multi-national journey

American brand, German car, and the label "made in Poland." In the case of the Ford Tourneo Connect, we can talk about complete globalization. It's essentially a Volkswagen Caddy in disguise, produced in the city close to the German-Poland border.

Since 2002, Ford has been manufacturing the Transit Connect delivery-passenger van. In 2020, it partnered with Volkswagen to produce commercial and delivery vehicles jointly. Therefore, the new generation Tourneo Connect is the fourth generation of the Volkswagen Caddy.

This business model is familiar in the automotive world—the Mercedes Citan is essentially a clone of the Renault Kangoo and Nissan Townstar. The Mazda 2 is a Toyota Yaris, and the Toyota Proace Verso is an Opel Zafira Life. Why? to avoid reinventing the wheel. If a manufacturer needs a small hybrid to reduce CO2 emissions for its portfolio, it doesn't have to design it from scratch. Or if it wants to save time and money, it doesn't have to. Designing and bringing a new model to the market is a multi-year process with costs counted in billions of pounds.

Although the "box" of the Ford Tourneo Connect is a Volkswagen Caddy, the front is unmistakably Ford. The characteristic shape of the headlights and the grille leaves no doubt about the brand. It’s different at the back - despite minor modifications, it's a Caddy. Even though it's a commercial vehicle, there's no visual "shame."

Large windows that are almost the entire length and width of the body illuminate the interior very well. Sliding doors on both sides of the cabin make it easier to access the second and (optionally) third row of seats. The second row has a split-bench seat, and in the third row, two seats can be mounted to the boot's floor.

The cockpit is borrowed from the Volkswagen Caddy. The genes of a commercial vehicle are helpful when it comes to storage compartments, shelves, and pockets. There are plenty of them. In the middle of the sturdy dashboard, there's a large touchscreen for multimedia and navigation control and for adjusting the air conditioning. A touch strip for changing the temperature and volume is below it, which is characteristic of the new VW models.

The seats are simple, covered with grey fabric upholstery with blue accents (for the Active version). On the backrests of the driver's and passenger's seats, there are plastic tables for passengers riding in the back. The Ford Tourneo Connect is best suited as a five-person variant. This way, passengers are most comfortable (accessing the third row is still tricky), and there's plenty of space in the boot, even for a long trip.

The Ford Tourneo Connect is available in three engine variants: one petrol and two diesel. The most powerful provides up to 122 HP. It's not much, but enough for a spacious passenger car. Acceleration isn't essential here - each variant reaches the first 100 km/h in over 12 seconds.

The average consumption of the petrol engine is about 10.5 km/l. The most powerful diesel variant also has all-wheel drive. Combined with 122 HP and 320 Nm, it offers enough dynamics for overtaking. Fuel consumption in mixed mode is about 15 km/l.

Recently, the range also added a plug-in hybrid, which wasn't available during the test.

The price list for the Ford Tourneo Connect starts at £20,000 for the base Titanium version with a petrol engine. The larger Grand variant costs just under £3,000 more.

The cheapest "short" diesel costs from £20,600. Prices for the more powerful high-pressure diesel variant with the Active trim start at £23,400. The Sport version is more expensive - priced from £24,300 with the most powerful engine.

Additional payments are required for metallic paints (£370), an advanced driver assistance package (£830), or a package with a reversing camera, adaptive LED headlights, and dual-zone automatic air conditioning (£650, and in the Sport version—£185). A panoramic roof costs £330.