2022 Ford Maverick Pickup The Ford F-150 is America’s best-selling vehicle with nearly 900,000 examples of trucks making their way into customer’s hands last year. One of them is The Ranger. Meanwhile, it managed nearly 90,000 units in 2019 even though it was not a top seller in its class. Ford sure knows how to sell trucks.
So to get more money from pickup-crazed American shoppers, the Blue Oval has plans for another truck dubbed the Ford Maverick, this upcoming light pickup will be the smallest in the foresight range.
It’s even smaller than the Ranger and can share the base with one of Ford’s unibody crossovers. In this post, we won’t have all the details about the Ford light truck until it debuts maybe next year. But interestingly this is everything we know so far.
As mentioned above the Ford Maverick will be the smallest truck brand to be placed under the Ranger. Unlike the Ranger and the larger F-150, the Maverick will have a unibody construction similar to what you get on the current Honda Ridgeline.
It’s still unclear which platform the new Maverick will use, but mechanically it can share a lot with the company’s smaller crossovers, like the new Bronco Sport and the Escape.
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Short of the full confirmation we got from Ford, we knew that the new light pickup would be called the Maverick. From this, we can see CAD drawings that leaked in May showing the rear of the truck with the stamp “MAVERICK” and a more detailed drawing of the actual rear doors from July showing the same wordmark.
At first, we thought it could be called Courier based on the patent filing or even Ranchero after the truck that was stopped by the same name. But now we know for sure that the new truck will be called the Ford Maverick.
2022 Ford Maverick Pickup Spyshot
Ford revived the Maverick nameplate, only this time for a compact pickup truck as opposed to a compact sedan and coupe. In this case, the modern Ford Maverick is slated to arrive in 2021 as a 2022 model and several prototypes have just been seen.
It should be noted that the Maverick is smaller than the Ranger, but not as small as one might imagine. Although distinctly lower it seems almost as long as its middle sibling and only slightly narrower.
Unlike the Ranger body-on-frame 2022, the Ford Maverick uses a unibody platform adapted from the compact Ford C2 architecture that supports the fourth-generation Focus and the latest Escape / Kuga SUV.
While it’s too early to talk about the specs, the C2 platform suggests Maverick will feature cross-mount powertrains. Expect the lineup to feature only four-cylinder engines in naturally aspirated and turbocharged forms depending on the market.
Front-wheel drive will be standard while all-wheel drive should be an option. The cabin remains a mystery for now, but our photographer managed to take a look underneath one of the Maverick prototypes. A close-up shot of the rear suspension shows truck-like shock absorbers and coil springs, as well as other structural elements.
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They tested it together with a mid-size Ford Ranger, providing a good contrast of the size difference between the two pickups. The Maverick was almost dwarfed by the Ranger, which is a good thing as there are plenty of buyers looking for a small, lifestyle-oriented pickup.
Unlike the body-on-frame and F-150 Ranger pickups, Maverick will use the Ford C2 unibody platform designed for compact vehicles. It may even come with front-wheel drive in a lower class, although you can bet an all-wheel-drive system will be available.
The Maverick will be a close relative of Bronco Sports, which also uses the C2 platform, which means it will have some roughness but will still be a lifestyle vehicle rather than a serious workhorse.
If the Bronco Sport is your guide to performance, look for a crane capacity of 2,200 pounds and a ground clearance of about 8.0 inches. Several versions of the Bronco Sport also come with an all-wheel-drive system that can divide torque not only between the axles but also between the rear wheels.
Powertrains are also likely to be shared with the Bronco Sport, meaning buyers will be able to choose between a 181-horsepower 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-3 or a 245-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4. In both cases, an 8-speed automatic is standard. A powered powertrain could be added to the Bronco Sport and Maverick at a later date.
Production will likely take place in Mexico to help keep costs down (the Bronco Sport was also built there), and prices could go as high as $ 20,000. The Ranger for the 2020 model year starts at just over $ 24.000.
2022 Ford Maverick Pickup Engine
Talking about the engine if the new Ford Maverick uses the same modular front-wheel-drive architecture as the Bronco Sport, Escape, and European Focus which seems to be the most likely candidate the small truck will have at least two turbocharged engine options to choose from 1.5-liter three-cylinder and 2.0 liter inline-four larger. It’s unclear if it will also include something like the Focus ST’s fine 2.3-liter turbocharged engine for 280 horsepower 209 kilowatts but hopefully.
If Ford instead decides to use the previous-generation front-drive platform from Transit Connect, it’s unlikely that Maverick will use the naturally aspirated 2.0-liter engine producing around 162 hp 121 kW or the more powerful 1.5-liter three-cylinder generating around 180 hp 132 kW.
For all the engine options the eight-speed automatic gearbox is the most likely transmission choice although a six-speed manual is possible.
Front-wheel drive will probably come standard on the base model most likely for markets outside the US such as Mexico and Brazil. But like the Bronco Sport, we’re pretty much expecting an all-wheel-drive version of the Maverick to be available in the US.
Don’t expect a big bed either. The report from Autoblog says that the Maverick bed will be 24 to 30 inches shorter than the Ranger bed depending on the configuration.
2022 Ford Maverick Pickup Price and Release Date
Rumor has it that Ford will build the Maverick in Mexico at either the Monterrey brand facility once responsible for the Fusion and Lincoln MKZ or the company’s Cuautitlan factory the home of the European Fiesta and the upcoming Mach-E.
Building the Maverick in Mexico means Ford can avoid the dreaded “Chicken Tax” on light trucks and sell compact trucks in key markets such as Brazil and Mexico and the US with no penalties.
Ford hasn’t confirmed when the new Maverick will debut, but we know the light trucks will go on sale in late 2021 or early 2022. So, the Ford Maverick is expected to officially appear next year.
Positioned below the Ranger, which starts at $ 24,110 in the US for 2020, the Ford Maverick should start at around (or even under) $ 20,000. That would make the Maverick not only the most affordable truck Ford sells but also the cheapest pickup in the US. Ford is expected to launch the Maverick in late 2021 as a 2022 model, with an MSRP of under $ 20,000 in the US.
