In this week’s Ask Nathan:
- Will we see a Ford Transit City van stateside?
- Is Infiniti doomed?
The first question is from a fan who wants to know if the Ford Transit City work van will head to the United States.
Q: Will Ford release the new Transit City van in the USA?
Hey Nathan,
Do you see Ford releasing the new Transit City van in the USA? perhaps they’ll build a similar model on their low-cost UEV platform here, hopefully with a bigger battery. an electric van in the $30k’s would certainly be useful.
Regarding the new universal electric vehicle platform, when do you anticipate the specs of the new mid-size truck being released? with the surge in gas prices, might be time to trade in the V8 for an EV…
Thanks,
— Mark
A: Oh, hi Mark!
Thanks for the email.
I want to mention the basics of this vehicle to the readers first. The Ford Transit City is a Euro-spec electric van, with three different body styles. It comes with a 56-kWh LFP battery. Ford (Europe) says that the target range is 254 kilometers. That’s just under 160 miles, and that’s before we look at the EPA vs WLTP conversion. That would drop the mileage by a bit as well.
It has a 110 kW motor, which translates to just under 160 horsepower, and it’s front-wheel drive. It also has a fast-charge capability of up to 67 kW. There are two different sized vans, which are all smaller than the big-brother Transit, and there will be a chassis-cab configuration as well. Ford is aiming at an entry-level crowd, and rumor has it that pricing will be extremely competitive. Inexpensive European small EV vans start around €25,000 (less than $29,000 U.S.), and are popular in that market.
I suspect this Chinese-built van will undercut some of the competition.
It’s easy to write off the Ford Transit City van as an overseas-only vehicle. The European market is pushing hard on EV adoption, and it simply makes mores sense in that environment. EV van sales here are slow at best. It’s hard to convince U.S. buyers about the virtues of buying an all-electric work van. Still, there’s real potential for such a model.
There is a need in out market for smaller, more affordable work vans. I added a Ram ProMaster City video below, as it’s about to return to our market. KIA is considering bringing their EV work van here as well. It seems that there’s a bit of need for both – maybe.
If Ford wants to successfully market this van in the United States, I would start by adding a tiny range extender (REX); that’ll bring in some curious consumers. Hybrids are the future for many automakers, including Ford. I truly believe that the market swing will continue and selling a REX-equipped work van would be a killer idea.
If that were the case, I doubt they would keep it at $30,000.
Bottom line: I doubt Ford would bring this van to the United States “as-is.” Considering the market trends, tariff fees and the possibility of cannibalizing big-brother Transit sales, I suspect they would pass. With that being said, it’s possible that a variant of the Transit City might find its way here in the future.
I hope it does.
— N
The last question is actually a statement from a viewer who watched our 2027 Infiniti QX65 video. He thinks that Infiniti is going away.
Q: Via YouTube
you know a car introduction is a failure when the first thing the reviewer does is talk about cars from nearly 40 years ago. it doesn’t matter how good this car is or isn’t, nobody will ever buy one. People don’t go to infiniti dealerships
- KevinBarry71
A: Hi Kevin.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when I read the context of your message, it seemed like you had a vendetta against Infiniti. Before I get to their performance, I wanted to address the way you mocked my presentation. I won’t correct you, but I wanted to add some context.
I often bring up either the vehicle or automaker’s history when I do a review of a new model. It’s my belief that the audience may not be up to speed about the automaker and/or the product I am presenting. Adding 30-secondes here and there for some context is for their edification, not because I have nothing to say about the product, as you indicated.
As for Infiniti: yes, things are looking down. They sold less than 53,000 vehicles in 2025, this is a multi-year downward trend for the brand. At their peak, they were able to move nearly three times as many vehicles, and they currently trail Lincoln, Acura and Genesis in terms of growth and volume.
With that being said: they are transitioning to a newer fleet, and this change should boost sales. The QX65, which you say no one will buy, is based on their best selling vehicle, the QX60 – which makes up about 60 percent of their sales. This vehicle represents a value proposition when compared to similar vehicles, and it may even create conquest sales. Additionally, there are Infiniti return buyers. Infiniti absolutely has loyal customers, but it’s a shrinking, aging, and niche loyalty base, not a growing one. The problem is a lack of innovation, and a lack of product.
The new QX80 has impressive sales numbers, and the updated QX60 is expected to move the needle as well. I suspect Infiniti will move a few QX65s as well. Additionally, the automakers is in process of introducing new products, and updating the rest. It’s fair to say: if Nissan didn’t see potential in their growth, they would not have invested in these new and updated products.
– N
