silvrsvt Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 http://www.autonews.com/article/20180716/RETAIL/180719831 Doesn't seem like the Promaster or the NV200 (The City Express platform mate) are doing that well vs the Transit Express either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assimilator Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 It doesn't help that the compact van market has been falling in the US. Ford has some big plans for Transit Connect as their autonomous van platform and GM certainly doesn't have that platform right now. If Autnomous vans are a big thing moving forward, Ford and FCA have basically shut GM out entirely. I'm surprised we aren't seeing GM developing new vans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 http://www.autonews.com/article/20180716/RETAIL/180719831 Doesn't seem like the Promaster or the NV200 (The City Express platform mate) are doing that well vs the Transit Express Connect either. . Fixed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 It doesn't help that the compact van market has been falling in the US. Ford has some big plans for Transit Connect as their autonomous van platform and GM certainly doesn't have that platform right now. If Autnomous vans are a big thing moving forward, Ford and FCA have basically shut GM out entirely. I'm surprised we aren't seeing GM developing new vans. GM hasnt developed new vans because they thought the midsize truck market was the better market to be in and the full size van market was shrinking. They also didnt have anything close to Transit that was nearly ready to bring over from Europe like Ford did. GM was proven right about the midsize truck market but wrong about the full size van. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 The only way at this point for GM is to either; A.) Re-design their own full size van to compete with Transit and ProMaster B.) Reach out to Opel and licence their full size van for use in North America C.) Get together with their Chinese entities to come up with a replacement for their full size vans in North America D.) Do nothing... I am guessing D??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 (edited) The only way at this point for GM is to either; A.) Re-design their own full size van to compete with Transit and ProMaster B.) Reach out to Opel and licence their full size van for use in North America C.) Get together with their Chinese entities to come up with a replacement for their full size vans in North America D.) Do nothing... I am guessing D??? Option A is probably not feasible. Otherwise they would have done it already. Option B is no go... Opel doesn't have any vans because of GM so GM cannot license any Opel vans... womp womp. Opel sells rebadged Fiat Doblo (aka Ram Promaster City) as Opel Combo, rebadged Renault Trafic as Opel Vivaro, and rebadged Renault Master as Opel Movano. Option C is possible... GM's partner SAIC owns the Maxus brand (former LDV Maxus) so GM can probably ask them to help. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxus GM actually design and sell its own compact vans in China. Wuling offers a whole range of small vans and Wuling Rongguang van is actually the best selling vehicle in China. It's sold as Chevrolet N300 is a lot of places outside China. The slightly bigger Wuling Hongguang van is roughly the same size as Transit Connect or Ram Promaster. GM can probably assemble this van in Mexico and sell it as Chevy if it wants (in order to skirt the Chicken Tax). But not sure if it will pass US crash test. Rongguan/N300 Houngguang http://gmauthority.com/blog/2017/06/gm-selling-wuling-vans-as-chevrolets-in-certain-markets/ https://www.sgmw.com.cn/en/carclass.aspx?type=3 Edited July 17, 2018 by bzcat 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice-capades Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 All good news for Ford's Transit Connect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 You know sales weren't what they expected when they took the move to hide them in "Express" numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbone Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 Have you seen the tiny wheels on those things? The ride couldnt have been good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.