(By Tom Lohnes) – Have you ever looked at a Honda Ridgeline and thought “this is too big”? Well, Ford thinks you have, so they are reviving the dead segment of the compact pickup truck here in the US.
The Ford Maverick was originally believed to be a Bronco pickup to fight the Jeep gladiator, but spyshots and leaks have provided us with basically a full overview of the truck: A Bronco Sport with a bed. Yes, a 3-cylinder powered, FWD pickup truck is going to be rolling off the line very soon, wearing a Ford badge. Good thing is however, the Maverick could start as low as $19,000. This is a whole $8,000 cheaper than the next-cheapest, the aging Nissan Frontier. We will have to see what this thing tows and how good it is off-road, because we might have another Ridgeline on out hands. Not inherently a bad thing, just the Honda has proven that trucks that don’t do much truck stuff don’t sell too well here.
So, for $19,000, would you consider a Maverick? I. sure would, considering the quality of the trucks Ford currently produces. If the toughness of the Super Duty, Luxury of the F-150, and fun of the Ranger channel themselves into this tiny truck, we have a winner on our hands.
I’ve been saying there is a need for this for years. Hell yeah I’d buy one.
“Bonehead boaters of the Week” …go to your local launch ramps, there will be whole generations of trucks sliding to their depths on slick ramps. 🙂
I think this would actually do better on a slick ramp than a rwd, similar to how a fwd car works better in the snow. These probably won’t have much of a tow rating though
Makes more sense than the majority of modern SUVs. This at least has the potential of being used in some sort of “utility” manner and should get much better fuel mileage than similar sized trucks.
The thing that everyone is missing here is. Did ya read what the engine is. its a 3 cylinder. So now after 20 plus years of us, buying fuel-injected vehicles. And driving them for 250K miles. The manufactures are hating this. So now they tell you all about all the great horsepower these little engines have. And the great MPG. However the engines, even with good maintenance. Are wore out before 100K miles. And I have read about quite a few done at 85K. these little engines will not last being boosted into V-8 horsepower. They really want you to have to buy a new car just like 50 years ago. No one kept a car beyond 100K miles. I read that the standard engine in a Chevy 1/2 pickup. Is now a turbo’d 4 banger. Again, use it like a truck. the engine will be toaste at less than 100K. And for what they ask for these now days. A new vehicle is by far the worst investment anyone can buy.
Very well spoken.
I won’t even buy a vehicle with start/stop or hybrid. When these more complex computer systems go bad and it’s out of warranty your screwed. I know someone still making the final car payments on a Kia hybrid that went haywire and is undrivable. It’s out of warranty and cost so much to repair it’s basically scrap.
Perfect for the person, who lives inside the city limits.
Take the kids to school, stop at the mega low mart, and head to work…all while living in the metro area, condominium complex.
It will sell…and I like the idea of a small pickup…like the Ranger, and S10 used to be.
If it’s the same size as my ’87 or ’93 Ranger than I’m in. Otherwise forget it.
No point buying a “compact” truck that’s nearly full size.
This truck looks great. I genuinely would consider buying it. And it has a pretty great price! Thanks for sharing.
This comes from the same marketing team that made the Mustang an E SUV
This makes a lot of sense for small delivery fleets and other companies that need to haul more cargo than would fit in a little hatchback, but want a lower fuel budget than what you’d pay on full sized trucks.
Its April 1st already?
If these 3 cylinder diesels are sourced from Isuzu, then I definitely would not be interested. Under powered, torqueless pieces of crap with lousy reliability.
Now, if Ford built a compact rear drive sedan, with a turbo four cylinder with some sporty looks for $19,000…. and called it Maverick, I’d care.