With the Maverick for the light-duty stuff, and the upcoming new 4-door Ranger for the medium-duty stuff, I don't think Ford needs another Sport-Trac today. It would probably be overkill in that share of the compact-truck market. GM, though, could use a small crossover truck to compete with the Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz.....the Colorado/Canyon is nice, versatile, but IMO, somewhat like the old Sport-Trac and Ranger, just rides too stiff.

 

I don't disagree. New Ranger will be a while though, the european spec Ranger is being redone but thats not coming here.

 

Manufacturers have been using loose terms of vehicle names for ages. Like today's Chevy Blazer is physically nothing like the original K5. And before that, Cadillac used the name "Fleetwood" and "DeVille" on a variety of totally opposite front and rear wheel drive renditions. And then there's the new Bronco Sport, which has no physical roots to the new full size Bronco or original. It's all about catchy name recognition, used as a marketing ploy to lour in customers. Luckily, the new Maveric is so good that even us old fuddy duddy's who remember the original POS Maveric can get passed its name.

I also believe most customers don't even know or care the Maveric is BOF or unibody. It just looks cool and is a trendy niche right now.

 

More than that. I think the reason the hybrid version is sold out is that it gives a small-bed for hauling reasonably-sized loads combined with the hybrid drivetrain for economy and low emissions.

 

Ford Mavericks have become extremely hard to get recently. Orders for the 2022 Hybrid models have been cut off completely (they will resume next summer if plant-capacity allows), and gas versions are delivered at a very slow trickle at best. The Ford shops near my house have not had any for weeks. So, when I saw that a very large Ford dealership just a couple of miles from my place (they are split into two Ford branches, one with Ford only and the other branch with both Ford and Lincoln) had two new Mavericks listed in stock, I hopped into my Encore GX and buzzed out to take a look, figuring I’d also stop afterward at the Wegman’s just a couple blocks from the dealership and get some lunch and groceries. (I love their sub-sandwich shop).

Fortunately, both were still there when I arrived, and I didn’t even have to deal with salespeople…they were up on the parking-garage roof, next to each other (and to a Ranger for comparison LOL) where you can just drive up the ramp, park, and browse for yourself. Both were Super-Crew Lariat models, painted the same color (non-metallic Cactus light-Blue/Gray), which is also available in the Bronco Sport. Both had black/brown imitation-leather seats inside. Both were gas-powered, with the 2.0L Turbo-Ecoboost and 8-speed automatic. One was FWD and the other AWD, and marked up $2,000 over list. Even apart from that, the FWD version actually was some $1600 more than the AWD model, simply because it had more options….the dealership asked the same extra 2K for both. Straight-MSRP, though, without a mark-up (see attached stickers), the FWD one was $32,125, and the AWD $30,715. Both FWD and AWD had the same base-price of $25,490, which seemed odd, but that is just the way that Ford prices them at the factory…..which, all else equal, obviously makes the AWD a better deal. El Cheapo base versions, of course, start right around 20K…which, alone, makes probably them a better bargain than Hyundai’s smaller and more expensive Santa Cruz.

Although there were a few features inside I didn’t care for, Ford really nailed the overall design of this truck, inside and out. It’s a simple, handsome, classic two-box design with a bed, for maximum space-efficiency, and it appears substantially larger in person than it does in images/pictures, especially when parked next to the Ranger in comparison, although the Ranger sits higher off the ground and is not a crossover. It is not only noticeably larger than the competing Santa Cruz, but, IMO, looks a lot better too. The Santa Cruz has a somewhat overstyled and awkward look especially up front, and the more-raked styling cuts down on interior space efficiency. It is likely to be more reliable than the Maverick, though, in the long run, as Ford does not have a good track-record with either Ecoboost engines or the reliability of their Escape-based platforms in general….which the Maverick, like the Bronco-Sport, comes from.

Three things inside I didn’t like. First, the rotary-shifter, with the center-Park-button, which Ford seems determined to force down the throats of almost all of its new-vehicle buyers. Second, the usual cheap black-plastic interior column-stalks and switchgear that are right out of the Ford parts-bin, and lack the smooth/crisp/precise feel of the ones that GM uses in its Chevy/Buick/GMC crossovers. Third, like with most Ford products, the standard Video-Screen is mounted on the dash in a somewhat tacky manner. The dash and door panels, even on the Lariat versions, are not very plush-looking/feeling, but some of that reflects the truck’s fairly low price….and I did not consider that part a complaint. The imitation leather on the seats (Ford calls it ACTIVEX) makes up for it by having a fairly nice look and feel, although not as nice as the superb NuLuxe that Lexus uses. And interior space-efficiency, considering the exterior dimensions, is very good due to the two-box design.

I didn’t ask for a test-drive today, for several reasons. First, I didn’t feel like dealing with sales-reps today. Two, I didn’t know if these two vehicles had been sold or not……Even though they were not marked "Sold", I figured it was likely they had been, or were being held for other customers. Three, although I’ve never in my life damaged or wrecked a vehicle I was test-driving or reviewing (I’ve had two fairly close calls…..one with a Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am, and the other with an expensive Porsche Panamera), these Mavericks are so hard to get right now that I simply didn’t want to take a chance on something happening to one of them in the heavy D.C. area traffic. Prudence sometimes has to take priority over impatience, and I’ll probably have more chances for a test-drive next year when more of them become available.

MM

 

Nice read MM. I like they little mini truck over body on frame bronco. Hyundai Santa Cruz doesn’t really wow in person. IMO. This Ford is much better.

 

Thanks. This isn't really what you call a mini truck.....certainly not like the old Chevy LUV, Ford Courier, Isuzu P'UP, etc....which really were mini-trucks. It is definitely larger-looking in person than in pictures, and significantly larger than Hyundai's Santa Cruz.

 

Well, I guess it’s a mini truck in the sense that it’s the smaller for truck Just what Ford needs. I wonder if Toyota or GM will copy. Maybe a Buick crossover truck?

 

Oh, definitely a home run for Ford....that's obvious. This, IMO, is what the last Ranger should have been, instead of an Australian design that was already 7 or 8 years old and honed to American specs. Those who want or need heavy-towing/hauling capability of BOF can get an F-150.



I don't see Toyota playing copy-cat right now. The Tacoma has a big cult-following of its own, never lacks for sales, and is probably better off-road than the Maverick. The Maverick, in contrast, is the perfect Suburban pick-up.

GM? Yes, perhaps there is a case for it....particularly after the time and effort they (IMO) wasted on the Blazer. GM, though, to its credit, already has the excellent Colorado/Canyon, although it is BOF and a little harder-edged than the Maverick.



Buick built a Roadmaster pickup in 1940. Since then, to my knowledge, they have not done anything with a bed on it, although they did do a BOF Rainer, which was a version of the 4-door truck-based Chevy Trailblazer.





No, I don't see Buick doing a crossover-pickup. But, perhaps, it might not be out of the question for Lincoln to do a version of the Maverick. They tried, twice, to sell a full-size BOF pickup (the Blackwood and Mark-LT)...and both flopped. But buyers might (?) be a little more receptive to a Lincoln-badged crossover truck, particularly with the Maverick's somewhat plain interior, which a Lincoln version would solve. And they could (?) dump the awkward rotary-shifter in the Maverick for the piano-key shift-buttons in the Corsair and Aviator.

 

You will never see a Buick crossover truck lol. I would hope that Lincoln learned their lesson from the other two failed trucks they did. Leave the trucks to Chevy and Ford and GMC

A Lincoln version of the industry's cheapest econo truck is not in line with what they are trying to do with Lincoln.

 

I tend to agree....but unforeseen things can, and do, happen in the auto industry. Who would've ever guessed that Buick would one day be all-crossover in the American market? Certainly not when I was in college driving my Electra 225...or when the Grand National/GNX was around LOL.



The Blackwood failed because only an idiot would buy a work-truck with the rear end and bed lined with rare and expensive African Woods. I think only around a thousand were produced, and I only saw one on the road in my area. The Mark LT failed because it was too much like the F-150. But that doesn't mean that a nice luxury-crossover pick-up has to fail just because two larger BOF trucks did....or because the Cadillac Escalade pickup with the drop-down panel behind the cabin did.

Right now, I would tend to agree, but, like I said above, the auto industry can be full of surprises.

Not just those three. Toyota is definitely a player in the mid-size truck market (Tacoma)...less-so wth the Tundra.

 

People don’t buy work trucks from Lincoln, wood lined beds or not lol.

And if Buick ever makes a truck, I will buy you one.

 

For that matter, many people, particularly younger buyers, don't buy work trucks from Ford, Chevy, Ram, or Toyota to actually do work, either. The Macho-image factor in pick-up sales, particularly with luxury-pickups like the Ford King-Ranch, Silverado High-Country, or Ram Laramie-Longhorn, is a big factor in sales. People want to pretend they are John Cena or Duane (The Rock) Johnson without actually stepping in the ring LOL.


Thank you, but I'm well-capable of funding my own. In general, I don't need something with an outside bed, either. Save your money to pay off that new house....and whatever you decide to replace your S560 with.

 

Significantly larger than the Santa Cruz?? How so? It's just 4 inches longer. They both only come in one body configuration. For all intents and purposes they're the same size, but the Maverick starts at a much lower price.

 

Perception. Maverick looks huge compared to the Santa Cruz. Maverick looks better packaged as well for use.