Ford Transit Connect Wagon hauls back into the seven-seat people mover market

After a six-year hiatus, Ford will roll back into the minivan game — sort of.

The automaker today introduced a seven-seat version of its Transit Connect Wagon, a more upscale version of its small commercial van, which it expects to get more than 30 mpg on the highway when it launches late next year as a 2014 model.

The boxy yet stylish Transit Connect Wagon isn't as big as the Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey or the Dodge Grand Caravan -- the three models of minivans that claim the majority of about 400,000 such vehicles U.S. buyers drive off every year. It's similar to a Mazda5, although larger, and Ford says it will haul a heftier payload than the Grand Caravan.

Ford execs say by calling it a wagon rather than a minivan, they hope to lure buyers who want an affordable vehicle that can efficiently transport people like a minivan, and haul cargo like a utility vehicle. While pricing was not released, the Transit Connect Wagon will be "thousands less" than the Sienna and Odyssey, said Ford's Vice President of Global Engineering, Global Product Development Hau Thai-Tang.