Well, son, when a Focus and a Transit Connect love each other very much, and there's actual demand for smaller seven-seat cars that get decent mileage...
2014 Ford Transit Connect Wagon brings minivans back to the Blue Oval [autoblog via dt reader rolf]
If this thing rides like the Transit Connect taxis in NYC, no thanks.
If it rides like a half-decent car, though, I could see it being the next step after our Mazda 5.
The upcoming Transit Connect seems to be a huge step up in refinement but I still don't see it meeting the levels of comfort Americans expect in their passenger cars and vans. I don't see it being as good a driver as the Mazda5 or the other full size minivans on the market, or the CMax for that matter. But the Transit Connect is built for commercial use. Expect it to be bulletproof. Expect it to last a long time. Expect it to have a cavernous (for its size) interior and the ability to haul lots of stuff in a relatively small, efficient and cheap package.
Separately, I love those overhead bins but "items may shift..." and I can't believe the lawyers are letting them go ahead with them. I would expect the bin doors to be plastered in yellow warning labels like those that have ruined the look of sun visors.
I just wish they'd offer it with the 1.0L 3cyl EcoBoost engine, which would give it hybrid-style fuel economy, and decent enough acceleration, especially if you primarily use it as a city car.
Unfortunately, Ford will probably never bring it to the states in anything bigger than a Fiesta.
I've been drooling over the Transit Connect anyway, as it is the only smallish car I've ever seen that will afford me a foot of headroom.
AWD? Bulletproof, manual tranny, and AWD earns my $$.