There might be a new van on the block to challenge the dominance of the Toyota Hiace. A recent trademark filing could suggest that Ford wants in on the van market. That’s because the Tourneo name was recently filed locally.
The what now? The Ford Tourneo is essentially the passenger version of the Transit Custom van. In terms of dimensions, it’s close to, you guessed it, the Hiace. The other potential competitor is the Hyundai Staria.
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This isn’t Ford’s first attempt at selling a van in the Philippines. Readers of a certain age will remember the E-150 from before, and if you go further back, there was something called the from the ‘80s. Ford Philippines even offered the high-roof, 14-passenger version of the Transit briefly.
The Transit wasn’t particularly a huge seller here. It’s likely due to the fact that only one variant was sold here and only as a manual. The Ford Tourneo could prove to be a more successful formula as it’s a newer platform and readily available with an automatic. An interesting little fact out this van is that it’s also sold as the new Volkswagen Transporter. Both the Ford and Volkswagen vans are made in Turkey.
Should this model make its way here, we’re hedging our bets that it will be offered with a diesel paired with an automatic. It uses the same engine family as the Everest and Ranger with a 2.0-liter EcoBlue mill under the hood. We’re not ruling out the possibility of the plug-in hybrid being offered here, though.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, a trademark filing isn’t a guarantee that a model will be offered here. Manufacturers file trademark applications all over the world, so it could simply mean that the company is simply protecting its rights to a certain nameplate. Still, it doesn’t rule out its chances coming here given that the Philippines has a strong van market.
