(December 20, 2010) DEARBORN, Mich. — The Ford C-MAX is an all-new, affordable transportation alternative for growing, busy North American families who crave industry-first technology, flexible seating and interior space, sporty performance and best-in-class fuel economy.

The C-Max is a "mini" minivan in the same footprint as the Mazda5. The C-Max, recently introduced in Europe, will likely go on sale in the U.S. in late 2011 or early 2012. Ford has not released the introduction date.

At 178-inches overall on a 109-inch wheelbase, it's 22.2 inches and 10.3 inches shorter, respectively, than the new Toyota Sienna minivan.

“The Ford C-MAX provides still more proof of how our One Ford plan continues to deliver the high-quality, fuel-efficient products people really want,” said Mark Fields, Ford’s president of The Americas. “C-MAX is just right for customers in North America seeking stylish, flexible transportation and life-enhancing technology that comes standard.”

The new C-MAX is part of Ford Motor Company’s global small vehicle strategy that will deliver at least 10 vehicles — and 2 million vehicles annually — from a single C-vehicle platform by 2012.

This new compact family vehicle introduces a host of unique features including an industry-exclusive hands-free power-operated rear liftgate, versatile 5+2 seating configuration with five seats in the main cabin and two smaller seats in the third row, twin sliding doors and active park assist, an advanced new system that automatically steers the vehicle into parallel parking spaces.

The new C-MAX also heralds the arrival of Ford’s first application of the all-new 1.6-liter EcoBoost I-4 engine in its North American C-class vehicles, delivering a combination of responsive performance with improved fuel economy and reduced CO2 emissions.

Developed for global applications, the lightweight, all-aluminum 1.6-liter Ford EcoBoost engine, which should develop around 168 horsepower, combines high-pressure direct injection, low-inertia turbocharging and twin independent variable camshaft timing (Ti-VCT) to achieve fuel economy results up to 20 percent better than naturally aspirated, larger-displacement gasoline engines with a similar power output. This new engine is expected to deliver the best available highway fuel economy for a seven-passenger vehicle.

The C-MAX base engine is a proven 2.5-liter iVCT I-4, optimized for small crossover application with plenty of low-end torque. Both engines are mated to a six-speed automatic transmission with a gear ratio span allowing for responsive acceleration from rest yet fuel efficiency for around-town driving and steady cruising at speed.

“The scale and flexibility of our global new C-vehicle platform enables us to develop distinct vehicles including C-MAX,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford group vice president of Global Product Development. “It’s a ‘white space’ vehicle here in North America – a new choice – and we believe buyers will appreciate the technology, convenience and functionality C-MAX packs into a neat package.”

The seating concept and door layout for the 5+2 C-MAX was finalized after detailed research with typical family users to identify the most popular configurations.

The vehicle features twin sliding rear side doors and a clever new seat folding concept for second-row seats. The second-row seat is equipped with a unique mechanism that allows the middle seat position to fold quickly and easily under the right-hand seat, creating a handy walk-through space between the two outboard seats so passengers can easily access the third row, as well as two individual, bucket-like seats.

The second-row seats also have slide and recline functionality, adapting to multiple combinations of passenger seat positions and cargo capacity. Outboard second-row seats also have a tip-and-slide forward function for easy access to the third-row seats when the second row is used.

The third-row seats can be omitted as a delete option, for those buyers electing to forgo the 5+2 seating arrangement.

The C-MAX provides a raised “command bridge” cockpit with high-mounted gear shift and center console. The driver controls and displays incorporate available Ford SYNC® and MyFord Touch™, similar to the acclaimed layouts recently introduced in other Ford nameplates.