New Ford Tourneo Courier becomes firm's entry model in Europe

The new Ford Tourneo Courier will arrive later this year, taking on a much more significant role for Ford following the death of the Ford Fiesta (and the subsequent exit of the Ford Focus in 2025), effectively becoming its entry-level passenger car. 

Due to enter production later this year alongside the Ford Puma crossover in Craiova, Romania, the second-generation Tourneo Courier is a boxy small MPV derived from the panel-sided Transit Courier van.

It will be offered with both internal-combustion and electric powertrains, the former arriving this summer and the latter pencilled in for late 2024.

Both the Tourneo Courier and its commercial sibling will fill the space left on the production line following the exit of the Ecosport – previously Ford’s cheapest SUV – late last year. 

The first-generation Courier pair were based on the B2E car platform used by the front-wheel-drive Fiesta and Puma, rather than the rear-wheel-drive commercial vehicle architecture used by the larger models in the Transit family. 

The electric variant of the MPV – arriving with a dramatic design reinvention – has been described as pointing to “the future of Ford in Europe” as a “fun” EV “fuelled by a restless need for adventure”, said Ford president Jim Farley.

Full technical details of the EV will be revealed closer to launch, but Ford has confirmed that it's powered by a 134bhp, 214lb ft motor on the front axle, can reach a top speed of 90mph and can charge at 100kW for a 10-80% top-up in less than 35 minutes.

Ford has also revealed that it can add 54 miles of range in 10 minutes, suggesting a battery capacity around 55kWh in capacity and a range of around 230 miles.

A 123bhp 1.0-litre turbo petrol Ecoboost engine, as powers the Fiesta, will be offered first. This can be paired with a six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic gearbox.

No diesel powertrain, as is offered on the Puma, will be offered.

Armed with these car-derived underpinnings and powertrains, the Tourneo Courier will in effect serve as the new entry point into Ford’s European car line-up, based on the fact that the previous version started from around £5000 less than the Puma when it was revealed in 2019. 

With the Puma currently starting at about £25,000, it seems likely that the ICE version of the new baby Tourneo will hit the market at nearer £20,000. Official pricing has yet to be confirmed. 

It will be well placed to do battle with the quartet of technically identical small-van-derived MPVs offered by Stellantis: the Citroën Berlingo, Fiat Doblò, Peugeot Rifter and Vauxhall Combo Life. 

The Tourneo Courier is one of seven new EVs that Ford will launch in Europe by 2024. The other six will be the electric versions of the Puma, Transit Courier, Transit Custom and Tourneo Custom; the recently revealed Explorer; and a second crossover based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform.