Missed Opportunities: Cars that ALMOST made it to America, but didn't

[Madman Of The People]

Part 6: Ford Grand C-Max.

 

Yes, that's a Ford Grand C-Max with US-style side markers in the headlamp assemblies.  America was slated to get this in late 2011 for the 2012 model year.  Then, just weeks prior to the launch date, Ford announced they had changed their mind.  Definitely a missed opportunity, if you ask me.

Built alongside the Kuga and Transit Connect at Ford's Valencia, Spain factory, the North American Grand C-Max was to have been available with a choice of either a naturally aspirated 2.5 litre engine or the 1.6 EcoBoost Turbo, same as the US-spec Transit Connect.  Had it gone on sale, the 1.6 EcoBoost version would have been the most fuel efficient seven passenger vehicle in North America.  Way to throw away those bragging rights, Ford!

The Grand C-Max would have had a critical advantage over its nearest rival, the Mazda 5, thanks to that seventh seating position.  North American Mazda 5s were only ever offered as six-seaters thanks to some moronic regulatory issues.  But Ford addressed those issues and was able to overcome them.  Like the Mazda 5 sold outside of America, the Grand C-Max's middle seat folded into one of the outboard seats.  Clever stuff!

The loss of this vehicle from the US market was a crushing blow for me, personally.  I once owned a Mazda 5 (which I passed down to my daughter in 2019, who's still driving it to this day) plus a first-generation Honda Odyssey (Honda Shuttle in the UK) before that.  Prior to its cancellation, the Grand C-Max was very high on my list of potential future purchases.  Beyond that, Ford walked away from a golden opportunity to create a whole new market niche in America.  I certainly can't be the only person in this hemisphere who wants a family-friendly load-lugger that isn't a big as a house?

Although we did get the short wheelbase C-Max, it would have been nice to enjoy the extra versatility of the grand.  Plus, the shorty C-Max was only available in the US as a standard hybrid or the "Energi" plug-in hybrid.  Packaging in these was terrible.  Ford had to raise the rear cargo floor and eliminate the spare wheel to make room for all those hybrid batteries.  The Energi's load bay, in particular, was so compromised it rendered the boot almost completely unusable.

For reference, Here's the boot of the C-Max Energi.  Yes, they really had to raise the floor that high!

 

The standard C-Max Hybrid boot was only slightly better.

 

I once test drove a C-Max but bought an Escape (Kuga) instead, because the C-Max's boot was so compromised.  It was that, plus lingering doubts over the longevity of the hybrid batteries, that put me off the C-Max.  Whereas a Grand C-Max, without all the hybrid gubbins, would have been ideal for my needs.  

Ford could have offered North American consumers something unique in the form of the Grand C-Max.  But they threw away that chance.  Pity.

 

[horriblemercedes]

1 hour ago, Madman Of The People said:

Part 6: Ford Grand C-Max.

I certainly can't be the only person in this hemisphere who wants a family-friendly load-lugger that isn't a big as a house?

 

Presumably not - there must be quite a few in Britain and Ireland for a start

[Madman Of The People]

In Part 1 of this series, I mentioned the Renault Espace was shown at the 1985 Chicago Auto Show, a show I used to attend every year, having been born and raised in Chicago.  Well, I've finally found a photo of the Espace at that show.  Not a very good one, unfortunately, but you can still clearly see Espace beneath the Renault sign.

 

As a bonus, I also discovered this WGN-TV (Chicago's very own Channel 9!) 1985 Chicago Auto Show Special!  No mention of Renault, unfortunately, but plenty examples of long-forgotten weapons-grade Autoshite to drool over.  

 

 

Who can resist the allure of the Oldsmobile Calais, Chrysler LeBaron GTS, Volkswagen Golf, Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z, Mitsubishi Galant (look out, Audi!), Pontiac Fiero, Mazda 626, Dodge Aries, Volkswagen Jetta, Nissan Stanza, Buick Century, and Mercury Topaz?  The presenters describe almost every one of these American and Japanese shitboxes as being "European" in look and feel, but I don't see anything at all European about them.