Ford Maverick debut

Standard hybrid drivetrain, 40mpg, starting under $20k, small(er) truck. Discuss.

https://www.ford.com/trucks/maverick/2022/

other notes - payload around 1500lbs, towing 2k with standard hybrid drive, up to 4k with optional 2.0 Ecoboost and 8spd auto trans. Unibody construction

Starting under $20k?  Looks like the site is currently overloaded, but at that price, I expect it'll be a hit.  I'm very interested.  And not a bad looker from the pic above.

And the ecoboost only adds another $1100?  Color me surprised.

-Rob

Oh damn! I found the following about the bed to be really simple and elegant, well thought out design. Even the tie down locations in the side of the tailgate:

"the Maverick's bed is wide enough to accommodate a 4x8 sheet of plywood, though it won't fit between the wheel wells. The bed has formed-in supports to allow owners to load it in level, and the tailgate can be locked at 45°, at which angle its height aligns with the aforementioned supports to keep your plywood flat. In this position, the tailgate can support up to 400 pounds. If you need length at the expense of width, the load floor extends to 6’ with the tailgate fully extended."

Very bland looking but at that price tag this thing could be sales boon.

That picture of the blue one above doesn't give much for scale.  Does anyone have a picture of this Maverick parked next to another popular car/truck?  

EDIT: Some scale here but those are some really small jet skis.  The real stand-up kind.  Not the bigger sit on kind.   I bet that implies a rather low tow rating (if this is at max tow weight.)  

In reply to Donebrokeit :

It could be the ugliest thing on the planet, as a functional truck starting under $20k these days they will not be able to keep a single one on the lot for months to come.

This is what I expected the Ranger to be.  Any word on if there is going to be a stripped down "Work Truck" option?

John Welsh said:

That picture of the blue one above doesn't give much for scale.  Does anyone have a picture of this Maverick parked next to another popular car/truck?  

I was wondering Vs the Ranger

Here https://www.motor1.com/news/512510/2022-ford-maverick-size-ranger-f150/

Edit: 

I was looking through that earlier this morning.  Great under-seat storage in the cab in addition to that well-thought-out bed design.  I'm not sure how it compares in size to the Ridgeline, but I'm fairly certain the Honda can tow a half-ton more.  It's supposed to be slightly larger than the Vera Cruz.  Base (XL) with AWD and the 2.0 ecoboost and the 4k tow package MSRPs at $25,500 and change which seems really cheap.  I find it a little odd that you can even get the 4k tow package in the ecoboost FWD version.  For 95% of the the truck things I want a truck for, that would totally get the job done.  Maybe I should move to SF or SA and sell the Excursion, the trailer, and the Neon...

Let me know if anyone has any specific questions that I might be able to answer from Ford.

Also, I can do a photo dump if anyone is interested.

Would like to see a pic of the F-150, Ranger and Maverick all together from several different angles to get an idea of the actual size. Still looks bigger the what the original Ranger was.

In reply to pirate :

They only had one picture, but here is the Maverick compared to the whole truck lineup:

From left to right: Ford F-250, Ford F-150 Lightning, Ford F-150, Ford Ranger and Ford Maverick.

In reply to Colin Wood :

I kind of wonder why they decided to bring this truck here.  The truck market is already so varied with the Ranger recently being released.  At some point doesn't the market get saturated and they don't sell for squat?

In reply to pirate :

Two feet longer than the standard Ranger

Tiny my ass

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Perhaps, but I think the plan with the Maverick is less about selling a small truck, and more about selling a crossover that happens to have a truck bed, if that makes sense.

Man, if I didn't have new model jitters I'd be tempted to run down there to make a deposit right now.

This would be a perfect truck for me.  Great gas mileage, tow ability with ecoboost is probably all I'll ever need, 4 doors is a requirement for me, and I don't need an 8' long bed.  And I'm cheap, so the low starting price is great as well.  

Now we just need someone to tune that ecoboost up to 400HP and stuff some wide tires/flares on it and maybe lower the suspension 2 inches!  Kinda sorta return of the sport truck, or at least as close as we'll ever get these days.

Mr_Asa said:

In reply to Colin Wood :

I kind of wonder why they decided to bring this truck here.  The truck market is already so varied with the Ranger recently being released.  At some point doesn't the market get saturated and they don't sell for squat?

It's a good question. And its interesting that despite the Ridgeline being something of a sales disappointment, two other companies are jumping into the fray.  But I think that this market segment is an acknowledgement that a lot of people like pickups but don't need or want the extra size and capacity. My only bitch about my Ridgeline is that in a fairly dense urban area it's a bit big. This or the Santa Cruz addresses that issue, and if one needs  serious capacity, there are plenty of places that will rent you it.

In reply to Colin Wood :

I guess I can see that.  Now, if only the front end wasn't so gawd-awful ugly.

Is this Maverick on the same chassis as the Bronco Sport?  Look is similar.  Those seem to be selling well. 

Research show the Maverick is a stretched Bronco Sport

Mr. Peabody said:

In reply to pirate :

Two feet longer than the standard Ranger

Tiny my ass

Gotta compare like to like, right?  Its a 4-door, so you need to compare it to a 4-door Ranger.  In that case its a little under a foot shorter.

Here's a decent interview with a Ford employee where they discuss the target customer a lot, and they repeatedly mention former sedan buyers.

Is it a truck or a crossover with a bed? Body on frame? Rear wheel drive?

I like the size and the shockingly sane, millennial-friendly price. The base model is the ideal pickup for the person who doesn't really need a pickup but still wants one - great city mileage, small size, low price, and on that odd day you want to pick up some long pieces of wood from Home Depot you can still fit them in the back so it feels like you're actually using your pickup for something. Has only enough power to get itself around and therefore practically no towing capacity by pickup standards, but if you don't really need a pickup that's fine.

The next model up could actually be used as a pickup, but it's kind of boring because it's a fairly conventional compact pickup, except for what I expect is a lateral powertrain layout.

What would be really interesting is if they did something between these models, a hybrid with a healthy amount of power up front and electric drive to the rear wheels, with plugin charging capability and at least 3500lbs towing capacity. I might personally be interested in something like that, which could haul or tow and drive long distances on occasion and still drive around town on all-electric power most of the time.

In reply to iansane :

Crossover with a bed. FWD standard, AWD optional.