What’s New About the Ford Maverick?
Everything! The Maverick is Ford‘s new compact truck. I know it’s unibody, akin to the Honda Ridgeline and Hyundai Santa Cruz, but it’s still a truck. It comes in one basic configuration, a 4-door model with a fairly short bed but it comes with an available hybrid engine, and most shockingly for a truck these days, it’s affordable! While it was initially available for around $20,000, starting price this year has quickly crept over $23,000. It’s still supremely affordable, as long as you don’t get too crazy with the option sheet, and that you can actually find one, as order banks have been sold out each time they open up.
Key Content / Trims Available
As mentioned above, Maverick comes in one physical configuration, a 4-door 5-passenger cab “SuperCrew” in Fordology, and a 4.5 foot bed. Overall length is a hair under 200″ and about the same as the family hauling Ford Explorer.
XL (in name, not in size description) is the first trim in the Maverick lineup at $23,690 with destination. A Hybrid Front Wheel Drive powertrain is standard. Sadly the Hybrid is not combinable with the optional All-Wheel Drive system, for that you have to move to the optional turbo 4-cylinder gas engine. This is a nice, but basic trim with manual seats, 17″ steelie wheels, manual exterior mirror adjustment and manual air conditioning controls but hey, at least it has A/C! And for 2023, Ford threw in cruise control as standard. Safety wise you have standard automatic emergency braking, auto high beams and of course a backup camera. Blind Spot Monitor and Lane Keep Assist are optional here. 8″ infotainment screen with wired phone connectivity (Apple CarPlay/Android Auto) is standard. Tons of “truck” stuff like a choice of drop-in or spray-in bedliner, full size spare, tow package, manual sliding rear window is optional.
XLT nets you alloy wheels, power exterior mirrors, rear seat armrest, power tailgate lock and the Ford staple Securicode keyless entry pad. Pricing here jumps to $25,950 to start. Optional packages include a “luxury” package with power driver seat, heated front seats, heated steering wheel. heated mirrors, truck bed lighting, hitch receiver and a few other items. Blind Spot and Lane Keep Assist and manual sliding rear window are still optional here. Sunroof is optional on XLT. New for 2023 is the Tremor Off-Road Package, available for the gas engine 4WD model, this gets increased ride height with off-road tuned suspension and an advanced 4WD unit with rear drive lock and drive modes along with lots of unique visuals. There are also other packages like an FX4 Off-Road package and Black Appearance package.
Lariat is the fancy Maverick at just under $30,000. It has 18″ wheels, body colored exterior door handles, up level LED headlights, dual-zone automatic temperature controls, illuminated vanity mirrors, power sliding rear window, auto up/down passenger windows all around, and passive keyless entry and push button start. Front seats are covered in the ActiveX (pleather) seating, with a power driver seat. The Lariat Luxury package adds things like a branded B&O sound system, heated seats and steering wheel, navigation system, wireless charging pad and more! You can also add the Tremor, FX4, Black Appearance packages here. Blind Spot and Lane Keep are still optional here, as is a separate option with adaptive cruise control, and rear parking sensors.
Quick Spin
The Maverick drives like… almost any other compact utility vehicle. And that’s not a bad thing, that’s high praise. Ford has created Maverick and placed it nearly exactly where I would have wanted a compact truck to be back in my product planning days. Supremely affordable with a huge fuel economy benefit over the “big” trucks and easy enough to drive (and park) for anyone. Yes it’s still nearly 200″ long, so a good bit longer than Civic or an Escape, but it feels comfortable enough and not overwhelming in size and width like so many trucks are today. Weight and power are balanced and feels punchy enough, even with the hybrid.
Improvement Points
Need a hybrid with all-wheel drive! Right now hybrid models are hard to come by, and are only available with front-wheel drive.
Build more! This trucklet seems like a certified success, another in a string of hits at Ford. See Bronco, Bronco Sport, etc. Ford needs to quickly figure out how they can crank out more, and also keep pricing attainable for those entry new car buyers.
Make things like blind spot detection standard, at least on the XLT and Lariat
