2014 FORD C-Max 1.5L TDCi 6AT FWD (120 HP)

Vehicle Overview

Ford didn’t seem to understand by 2014 that the MPV market belongs to the French. One after another, apart from the VW Sharan and its siblings, everyone else failed. But Ford didn’t give up and tried again with the C-Max. Based on the successful Ford’s Global C platform, which was also used for the compact car Focus, it developed an MPV with claimed car-like abilities and very spacious.

The egg-shaped unibody MPV kept some design cues from the Focus range. It had a bold styling, a mix between a hatchback and an MPV. In addition to the overfenders for the wheel arches, the Ford stylists made a median ascending line ended into a more rectangular shape of the taillights.

Inside, the engineers installed more convenience features such as a bigger, refrigerated console and a better infotainment system. A seven-seat minivan was available on the European market as Grand C-Max. But it was axed from North America even though it was announced.

The powertrain range comprised two diesel engines and two gasoline units, mated to either a 5-speed manual for the base units, 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic (dual-clutch) for the more powerful engines and upper trim levels.

But if the first generation was sold in over 1.2 million units, the second did not perform too well. And in 2018 the sales stopped for the C-Max in the U.S. and 2019 in Europe.