Someone who refused to be named sent us a picture of the new Ford Maverick truck with the explanation that “an acquaintance of an acquaintance who works there took the picture.” Whether it’s an extra layer of security to keep them from being fired, or maybe Ford dropped the photo themselves in a guerrilla marketing campaign, we may never know. In any case, this is claimed to be a Ford assembly line at the Hermosillo plant in Sonora, Mexico, with a single unit. a compact, still camouflaged truck rolling toward his freedom and the freeway. Also photography has found its way to the mavericktruckclub.com forum.
This truck will be based on the same platform as Bronco Sport, which has already proven to be a pretty decent car. Maverick will receive a unique truck grille and a unique design treatment for the front, although obviously without lighted doors, it’s hard to tell what the final truck will look like. There is clearly a bit of Bronco Sport design mixed with some of the larger design of Ranger trucks. It looks neat, I guess.
It will be interesting to see how Ford can sell and sell a front-wheel drive pickup. It is probably the right size for most truck owners, but it will not be able to reduce the large number of towing and towing that seems to be important in the truck market these days. Some of the spy photos of the Autoblog they look like Maverick pick-up mules running with a twisted rear axle and no rear differential at all. An FWD pickup with a low entry level might be interesting, but I’d assume most will be specified with all-wheel drive and a stronger rear suspension for a little extra utility.
This is probably the first truck to attract me after twenty years or more. You are much more likely to get a decent fuel economy halfway, it will go much more comfortably than a ladder frame truck and it will be easier to climb up and load things more easily in bed without the massive height. The trucks are too big, after all these.