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Ford proudly pronounces it’s going to undergo “the most important transformation within the firm’s historical past,” which – a minimum of in Europe – consists of repositioning in the marketplace as a extra adventurous model. By some means contradicting this new philosophy, the automaker now confirms the S-Max and Galaxy fashions – its most spacious and adventure-ready autos on the Outdated continent – can be discontinued within the spring of subsequent 12 months with no direct replacements within the pipeline. The choice comes on account of Ford’s transition in direction of an all-electric product vary and in response to altering buyer demand.
The Ford Galaxy was launched in Europe in 1996 when the primary technology of the household hauler arrived as a three way partnership product between Ford and the Volkswagen Group. The mannequin was additionally bought because the Volkswagen Sharan and SEAT Alhambra, however when the second-gen mannequin debuted in 2006, it moved to a brand new platform shared with the Mondeo. Since its market launch, greater than 820,000 items of the Galaxy have been bought throughout the European continent.
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The second-gen Galaxy went on sale alongside the sportier S-Max, of which about 570,000 examples have been delivered to clients since 2006. In 2021 alone, nevertheless, the gross sales fell dramatically and simply 4,700 Galaxy and seven,400 S-Max items had been bought in Europe.
Ford says the order books for the 2 multi-purpose autos had been not too long ago closed, which mainly means you might be now not in a position to put an order for a brand-new S-Max or Galaxy. Solely the present buyer orders can be produced at Ford’s plant in Valencia, Spain, earlier than the 2 fashions are discontinued.
Each the S-Max and Galaxy got a refresh in 2021 when a brand new electrified powertrain was added to the vary. A 2.5-liter Atkinson-cycle gasoline engine, supported by a small electrical motor, a 1.1-kWh lithium-ion battery, and a CVT, was accountable for powering the 2 vans, providing a peak output of 190 horsepower (142 kilowatts). Nonetheless, with the model’s ambitions to go absolutely electrical in Europe by the tip of the present decade, plainly there’s no room for combustion-powered household autos.
If you would like a big new Ford in Europe in the present day, your choices are at present restricted to the Kuga SUV, which is bought with combustion and hybrid powertrains. The Mondeo was retired earlier this 12 months, however the automaker guarantees it’s going to have a minimum of one plug-in hybrid or absolutely electrical mannequin in each phase on the European market, which possible additionally consists of the now declining D-segment the place the Mondeo was competing towards the VW Passat, Skoda Very good, and the likes. We doubt the product roadmap features a new household van, although.
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