There’s a new dual-view screen as well so the driver can be looking at sat-nav while the passenger watches a movie.
Perhaps don’t expect to see the Concept’s heart rate monitoring seats in the production car but a system that can identify pedestrians and apply the brakes will be offered. As will a new generation of the Active Park Assist self-parking system, which will warn drivers of oncoming traffic when driving out of a space.
The Ford S-MAX Concept is powered by a 1.5-litre EcoBoost engine, which is set to replace the 1.6 EcoBoost in the range. It’s due to tax breaks in China, where engines 1.5-litres or under prove to be much cheaper to run. We’re expecting it to have the same 158bhp output but with fuel economy slightly improved from 41.5mpg to around 45mpg.
As well as the 1.5-litre EcoBoost, expect to find Ford’s 1.6 and 2.0-litre diesels, with hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions likely to join the range late in 2015.
The new Ford S-MAX will be built alongside the next-generation Mondeo and Galaxy in Valencia, and we were told that early 2015 is the most likely on sale date. Expect to see prices kicking off at around £23,500.
