There are many ways in which Europe and America are very different, and apparently one of those differences is what constitutes a van. In America, our commercial vans don't really get any smaller than a Ford Transit Connect or a Nissan NV200. But in Europe, Ford will now sell you a Fiesta Van. It pretty much constitutes a three-door Fiesta with blank panels where the rear windows would be.
It's actually the second generation of the car, with the first being introduced nearly a decade ago with the previous-generation Fiesta. And apparently it was popular enough to merit another iteration. We'll admit we have a hard time calling this subcompact hatchback a van, especially with just 35 cubic feet of cargo space, but it can handle some surprisingly heavy loads. Total load capacity is a little more than 1,100 pounds.
To hustle loads around, the Fiesta Van will have four engine options. Two are gasoline engines, a naturally aspiratated 1.1L three-cylinder making 84 horsepower, and the familiar turbocharged 1.0L three-cylinder making 123 hp. The other two are diesels, both displacing 1.5 liters, and producing either 84 hp or 118 hp.
Ford offers plenty of features with it, too. Among the available features are SYNC 3 with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, and Park Assist. There's even a spunky Sport model, shown above, with more aggressive body parts and big 18-inch wheels. It's basically a panel version of a Fiesta ST-Line.
Looking at it, we're imagining how cool a full-fledged Fiesta Van ST would be. A tiny little cargo hauler that also hauls, well, you get the idea. We haven't seen something like that since the Chevy HHR Panel SS panel van. You know, that hot seller. Of course, it looks like we in America won't seen any new Fiesta, let alone an ST, so whether one comes out is a bit of a moot point for us.
