cmarvel

I rode in a C-Max in France last summer and loved its size and crisp handling. It got me started thinking about buying one as a replacement for my aging Mazda MPV – a 2002 model, now with 112K trouble-free miles. The advantage over the Transit Connect is the third row seat which I can use to transport my grandkids. Ford is taking its sweet time getting the C-Max version to U.S. I believe that's because the market niche for this product has never gotten fair play in the American automotive press. Consumer Reports is probably the leader in the “bigger is better by golly” niche bias. That shows up consistently in its year by year evaluations of my MPV. Every review begins with some kind of a statement that my van is different in its maneuverability, ease of people hauling, flexible seating, and fun. But the conclusion is always that the MPV lacks the cargo capacity of a Honda Minivan, Chrysler Town and Country and Toyota Sienna and therefore not to be preferred to those models. If you want to speculate about why the magazine equivocates this way year after year, I think the reason is that the magazine doesn't deal with uniqueness very well. Perhaps when Ford brings the C-Max to the U.S. i n late 2011 there will be enough other models of C-Max size for the magazine to feel more comfortable in its evaluations. In that case, the C-Max should shine. I think the C-Max will be a solid seller in the States. And that the niche potential is solid as well. If you doubt this, try going to your local Craigslist and look for used Mazda MPVs (from 2000 forward). They are fairly scare and hold their price pretty well. Let's hope that Ford doesn't modify the preview look too much of the North American model. If you want to see it, google Ford C-Max Iosis. And for more background go to this link: http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=30972