Once the next great thing, farewell compact vans

Say goodbye to the compact van segment — at least in the United States.

According to several online automotive publication reports, Ram will stop importing ProMaster City to the United States at the end of this season and Ford will drop the Transit Connect at the end of 2023.

The two were the last of the remaining vehicles in the once popular niche segment.

Ram and Ford have not commented on the reports of once niche but popular segment of the utilitarian vehicles.

Compact Vans: So Long, Farewell

Ford, which brought the new segment of compact vans into the United States in 2010, offered the Transit Connect as a passenger van and cargo van. It was available international since 2002.

Other automakers quickly followed. Nissan introduced the NV200, which was also rebadged and sold as the Chevrolet City Express. The Fiat Doblo-based Ram ProMaster City arrived a couple years later. Mercedes-Benz also introduced the Metris, a reworked version of its European Vito/V-Class van.

All three are gone and soon will be joined by the Ram and Ford vehicles.

The Ford Transit had its best sales year in 2015 with 52,221 sales. In 2019, the Transit Connect rebounded and sold 41,597 units, with nearly 10,000 more than sales than in 2018.

Compact Vans: Faltering Sales

But the past two years, the van has stumbled to 34,596 sales in 2022 and 26,111 in last year.

In its impressive debut, the 2010 Ford Transit Connect was named North American Truck of the Year at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in New York.