FORD TOURNEO COURIER

Ford renews its smallest Transit van and its MPV sibling using Puma underpinnings

- ILLYA VERPRAET

TESTED 15.1.24, BARCELONA, SPAIN ON SALE NOW

Remember when the Citroën Berlingo was the hottest thing around? Manufacturers revelled in showing off the clever storage solutions in these compact van-based people carriers. The French even came up with a word for them: ludospace, meaning 'space to play'. But SUVS came and made them less popular, and then emissions regulations came and killed off most of the combustion-engined versions. Ford reckons there's still (or again) a market for them, though, and has come up with the new Tourneo Courier.

This one is supposed to be more than just a van with windows. To that end, it's based on the platform of the Puma crossover and built on the same line in Craiova, Romania.

As with the Puma, an EV version is coming, but it has been launched with a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine (without the Puma's mild-hybrid assistance), attached to a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. A sporty ST version would technically be possible, but don't bet on it. 

With its Explorer-like face, blocky proportions, blacked-out pillars and optional contrasting roof, it even looks quite good for the practical box on wheels that it obviously is.

Inside, it all looks a bit snazzier than your standard work van, with screens for the driver and a multimedia system as standard.

The not-a-van vibe is shattered somewhat when you actually cross the threshold, though, because hard, scratchy plastic abounds. The Puma and Fiesta (RIP) are hardly leather-lined cocoons of luxury in isolation, but they are in comparison to the Courier.