9 ms·

Ford unveils Maverick, a compact hybrid pickup truck for under $20k

39 points by nomoreplease 5y ago

Robotbeat 5y ago
Make it plug in hybrid and we’ve got a heck of a deal.
- justusthane 5y ago
  With the electric F-150, I'm surprised this doesn't come in an all-electric option.
  - dragontamer 5y ago
    Nah. Its better to have a wider variety of vehicle types to satisfy the needs of different people. I personally would rather buy Hybrid or PHEV over full electric. Besides, Ford already has the MachE and F150 Lightning for those who want full electric.
    - justusthane 5y ago
      Sure, but the F-150 and the Maverick are two very different vehicles. I suspect the people who want full electric would be the same people who would be interested in a compact pickup.
      - dragontamer 5y ago
        But the minute you add a 1500 lb / 300-mile battery pack to a vehicle, it rockets out of the low $20,000 price range. The biggest news of this vehicle is its price target. Sure, Ford is clearly cheating with the $1500 destination charge, but this is a low-$20,000s vehicle with only 160 HP. This hybrid is fundamentally a different vehicle than pure electric (high torque / high-speed / etc. etc.). This is clearly some kind of cheap fleet-vehicle will be (hopefully) mass produced at rock bottom prices. None of these specs (2000lb tow capacity / 160HP engine / undisclosed 0-60 times, etc. etc.) are good by any stretch of the imagination. This is a boring "Prius" idea, except made by Ford. Get an engine with just barely enough specs to get a job done, and then knock the price really low.
        Robotbeat 5y ago
        It should be a plug in hybrid tho
culopatin 5y ago
I guess this is the kind of truck you get when you don’t really need a truck but every now and then you go to IKEA and the box doesn’t fit in a sedan and so FWD is alright. I wish they had an extended cab with a longer bed though. But for the price of a Honda Fit, pretty awesome!
- fred_is_fred 5y ago
  If all you need a truck for is every now and then going to Ikea it would be a lot cheaper just to pay Ikea to deliver.
  - microtherion 5y ago
    Or rent a car. I own a smallish car for routine needs and am a member of a car sharing service so I can rent a station wagon, minivan, or van the handful of times a year I need one.
- madhadron 5y ago
  The majority of working pickups are compacts way smaller than an F-150 that are part of landscaping fleets and the like. They're all FWD.
  - canadianfella 5y ago
    Where?
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    I would not call any new pickup in the US from the last 10 to 15 years a compact. The smallest ones keep getting bigger and bigger in the US. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1st-vs-2nd-vs-3rd-gen-size-comparison.458693/ https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1st-vs-2nd-vs-3rd-gen-si...
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  > I guess this is the kind of truck you get when you don’t really need a truck Snobby.
mywittyname 5y ago
> The truck’s smaller more approachable size and its base price of $19,995 Ford's website shows $21,500 with destination. Ford just jacked up the destination charge to $1500 in order to hit that magic "less than $20,000" base price. This is a great move, so I don't want to sound like I'm poo-pooing this. The target audience is largely fleets and small businesses who are in the market for a Transit Connect with a bed. So I'm sure it will sell quite well. I just don't appreciate the misleading headlines when it comes to vehicle pricing. I doubt dealers will stock too many XLs, so most non-fleet buyers will opt for the XLT, which is $4k more expensive before options. Still, $25k for a hybrid pickup is a damn good deal. Specced as I would buy it is $28,300. I also appreciate that Ford went hybrid-by-default. That's a bold move, but probably well informed by their fleet sales.
- csharptwdec19 5y ago
  Yeah the destination charge games is just a little annoying to me. I'm wonder if it is also there to help avoid losing too much margin in cases of 'Ford Plan' discounts on the upper trims. My main vehicle right now is a WRX, so a 40/33MPG Compact truck is a great Ironic DD for me. I also appreciate that they are -not- locking the Ecoboost behind the XLT trim. I do think it's silly that there's no aluminum wheel option package for the base model though. Same for AWD, but I think that's a little less important for a truck that is FWD. If I had one fear on this, it would be the CVT on the 2.5L engine. The Powershift was a good example of how Ford sometimes ignores warnings of engineers about reliability in the name of hitting a price point. Hopefully they aren't repeating the same mistakes. I guess it depends on the overall design; if it's something like the Toyota HSD, should work great and possibly be better long term than the 8 speed used in the Ecoboost.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    Price obfuscation always benefits sellers and disadvantages buyers, and is always just a tool to extract more from buyers. There is never any reason the bottom line price cannot simply be stated. You do not see a breakdown of labor costs, materials costs, waste disposal costs, utilities, etc.
- deleted 5y ago
arprocter 5y ago
Making the hybrid FWD-only seems like a missed opportunity Wonder if they'll do a single cab with a longer bed
- mywittyname 5y ago
  It doesn't look like Ford offers AWD as an option on any of the Transit Connects. I suspect that fleet buyers don't care about AWD and aren't willing to pay the premium and fuel economy penalty for the option.
  - arprocter 5y ago
    I'm not really up to speed on Ford's AWD system, but if the frame already supports drive to the back axle then I would've thought RWD would be doable, and more desirable in a truck I guess it could be a limitation of the hybrid engine
    - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
      They're working with the Focus platform here. They don't have a drop in RWD drivetrain for that. It would be a substantial engineering effort. Releasing this vehicle for North America is already kind of a gamble and I'm not surprised they're being conservative and sticking to the existing drive-trains for that platform.
      - arprocter 5y ago
        The cynic in me thinks this will just allow them to drop the hybrid model when 'it sells badly', although I guess someone's buying FWD CR-Vs and RAV4s - they're both in the top 10 sellers
    - mywittyname 5y ago
      RWD is doable, but they'd have to completely redesign the transmission/hybrid system to accommodate AWD/RWD. And that would add a lot of costs. Ford uses a GKN differential in C2 AWD applications and it's not a cheap unit. FWD works just fine on the Transit Connect, which is what this is intended to compliment/replace. I've driven minivans loaded to the gills with crap and never found FWD to be a problem there.
insert_coin 5y ago
It looks fantastic, is Ford reinventing itself as a 'ford'ward looking company? Sedans are out trucks are in, and trucks are what Ford does best. In a few years if the offer a sub 25k all electric even with moderate range they will own the market.
- chrisseaton 5y ago
  Funnily, in Europe Ford is known mainly for economical sub-compact hatchbacks that your grandmother would drive to the supermarket once a week, and cheap generic fleet sedans for salesmen driving up and down the motorway.
technicalbard 5y ago
But you can't get one. You can't get ANY truck from Ford right now. They have blanket changed the delivery of ALL truck orders to 31 October this year due to parts shortages.
notatoad 5y ago
it looks like a cool vehicle and a good price, but this article is pretty ridiculous. i know techcrunch is mostly just a site that regurgites press releases, but i had to laugh at "no armrests or speakers in the backseat to make room for bigger water bottles"
lowercase1 5y ago
That's what qualifies as "compact" these days?
- milkytron 5y ago
  When compared to other trucks such as the midsize ranger, and full size f150, yes.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  Are there even any consumer line pickups sold today that come with a 2 door cab?
  - csharptwdec19 5y ago
    You can get a 2 door cab on The Colorado, I think you still can on the Silverado and F150. Most folks go with the 4 door option, so that's what dealers tend to stock, so you don't see them often.
subpixel 5y ago
I'm looking to get my first non-gas car and 40mpg is not good enough. Am I representative of a large part of the market? Dunno.
King-Aaron 5y ago
It's quite funny how they're toting "..smaller more approachable size" like it's a new thing, when the rest of the world has functioned with utes of this size for decades
- ngngngng 5y ago
  It is funny, but man do I appreciate this as an American. I'm so sick of all cars being huge. I LOVE my little turbo hatchback. But I also have plenty of need for a truck bed as someone on a large rural property. The ad ford released today has me really excited and I am absolutely buying one of these.
  - King-Aaron 5y ago
    It's such a shame for you guys that GM and Ford never properly exported our Australian utes over there - it sounds like the 'performance car front / utility rear' model would have suited a lot of consumers really well.

39 points by nomoreplease 5y ago

Robotbeat 5y ago

Make it plug in hybrid and we’ve got a heck of a deal.

justusthane 5y ago
With the electric F-150, I'm surprised this doesn't come in an all-electric option.
- dragontamer 5y ago
  Nah. Its better to have a wider variety of vehicle types to satisfy the needs of different people. I personally would rather buy Hybrid or PHEV over full electric. Besides, Ford already has the MachE and F150 Lightning for those who want full electric.
  - justusthane 5y ago
    Sure, but the F-150 and the Maverick are two very different vehicles. I suspect the people who want full electric would be the same people who would be interested in a compact pickup.
    - dragontamer 5y ago
      But the minute you add a 1500 lb / 300-mile battery pack to a vehicle, it rockets out of the low $20,000 price range. The biggest news of this vehicle is its price target. Sure, Ford is clearly cheating with the $1500 destination charge, but this is a low-$20,000s vehicle with only 160 HP. This hybrid is fundamentally a different vehicle than pure electric (high torque / high-speed / etc. etc.). This is clearly some kind of cheap fleet-vehicle will be (hopefully) mass produced at rock bottom prices. None of these specs (2000lb tow capacity / 160HP engine / undisclosed 0-60 times, etc. etc.) are good by any stretch of the imagination. This is a boring "Prius" idea, except made by Ford. Get an engine with just barely enough specs to get a job done, and then knock the price really low.
      - Robotbeat 5y ago
        It should be a plug in hybrid tho

culopatin 5y ago

I guess this is the kind of truck you get when you don’t really need a truck but every now and then you go to IKEA and the box doesn’t fit in a sedan and so FWD is alright. I wish they had an extended cab with a longer bed though. But for the price of a Honda Fit, pretty awesome!

fred_is_fred 5y ago
If all you need a truck for is every now and then going to Ikea it would be a lot cheaper just to pay Ikea to deliver.
- microtherion 5y ago
  Or rent a car. I own a smallish car for routine needs and am a member of a car sharing service so I can rent a station wagon, minivan, or van the handful of times a year I need one.
madhadron 5y ago
The majority of working pickups are compacts way smaller than an F-150 that are part of landscaping fleets and the like. They're all FWD.
- canadianfella 5y ago
  Where?
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  I would not call any new pickup in the US from the last 10 to 15 years a compact. The smallest ones keep getting bigger and bigger in the US. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1st-vs-2nd-vs-3rd-gen-size-comparison.458693/ https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1st-vs-2nd-vs-3rd-gen-si...
chrisseaton 5y ago
> I guess this is the kind of truck you get when you don’t really need a truck Snobby.

mywittyname 5y ago

> The truck’s smaller more approachable size and its base price of $19,995 Ford's website shows $21,500 with destination. Ford just jacked up the destination charge to $1500 in order to hit that magic "less than $20,000" base price. This is a great move, so I don't want to sound like I'm poo-pooing this. The target audience is largely fleets and small businesses who are in the market for a Transit Connect with a bed. So I'm sure it will sell quite well. I just don't appreciate the misleading headlines when it comes to vehicle pricing. I doubt dealers will stock too many XLs, so most non-fleet buyers will opt for the XLT, which is $4k more expensive before options. Still, $25k for a hybrid pickup is a damn good deal. Specced as I would buy it is $28,300. I also appreciate that Ford went hybrid-by-default. That's a bold move, but probably well informed by their fleet sales.

csharptwdec19 5y ago
Yeah the destination charge games is just a little annoying to me. I'm wonder if it is also there to help avoid losing too much margin in cases of 'Ford Plan' discounts on the upper trims. My main vehicle right now is a WRX, so a 40/33MPG Compact truck is a great Ironic DD for me. I also appreciate that they are -not- locking the Ecoboost behind the XLT trim. I do think it's silly that there's no aluminum wheel option package for the base model though. Same for AWD, but I think that's a little less important for a truck that is FWD. If I had one fear on this, it would be the CVT on the 2.5L engine. The Powershift was a good example of how Ford sometimes ignores warnings of engineers about reliability in the name of hitting a price point. Hopefully they aren't repeating the same mistakes. I guess it depends on the overall design; if it's something like the Toyota HSD, should work great and possibly be better long term than the 8 speed used in the Ecoboost.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  Price obfuscation always benefits sellers and disadvantages buyers, and is always just a tool to extract more from buyers. There is never any reason the bottom line price cannot simply be stated. You do not see a breakdown of labor costs, materials costs, waste disposal costs, utilities, etc.
deleted 5y ago

arprocter 5y ago

Making the hybrid FWD-only seems like a missed opportunity Wonder if they'll do a single cab with a longer bed

mywittyname 5y ago
It doesn't look like Ford offers AWD as an option on any of the Transit Connects. I suspect that fleet buyers don't care about AWD and aren't willing to pay the premium and fuel economy penalty for the option.
- arprocter 5y ago
  I'm not really up to speed on Ford's AWD system, but if the frame already supports drive to the back axle then I would've thought RWD would be doable, and more desirable in a truck I guess it could be a limitation of the hybrid engine
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    They're working with the Focus platform here. They don't have a drop in RWD drivetrain for that. It would be a substantial engineering effort. Releasing this vehicle for North America is already kind of a gamble and I'm not surprised they're being conservative and sticking to the existing drive-trains for that platform.
    - arprocter 5y ago
      The cynic in me thinks this will just allow them to drop the hybrid model when 'it sells badly', although I guess someone's buying FWD CR-Vs and RAV4s - they're both in the top 10 sellers
  - mywittyname 5y ago
    RWD is doable, but they'd have to completely redesign the transmission/hybrid system to accommodate AWD/RWD. And that would add a lot of costs. Ford uses a GKN differential in C2 AWD applications and it's not a cheap unit. FWD works just fine on the Transit Connect, which is what this is intended to compliment/replace. I've driven minivans loaded to the gills with crap and never found FWD to be a problem there.

insert_coin 5y ago

It looks fantastic, is Ford reinventing itself as a 'ford'ward looking company? Sedans are out trucks are in, and trucks are what Ford does best. In a few years if the offer a sub 25k all electric even with moderate range they will own the market.

chrisseaton 5y ago
Funnily, in Europe Ford is known mainly for economical sub-compact hatchbacks that your grandmother would drive to the supermarket once a week, and cheap generic fleet sedans for salesmen driving up and down the motorway.

technicalbard 5y ago

But you can't get one. You can't get ANY truck from Ford right now. They have blanket changed the delivery of ALL truck orders to 31 October this year due to parts shortages.

notatoad 5y ago

it looks like a cool vehicle and a good price, but this article is pretty ridiculous. i know techcrunch is mostly just a site that regurgites press releases, but i had to laugh at "no armrests or speakers in the backseat to make room for bigger water bottles"

lowercase1 5y ago

That's what qualifies as "compact" these days?

milkytron 5y ago
When compared to other trucks such as the midsize ranger, and full size f150, yes.
lotsofpulp 5y ago
Are there even any consumer line pickups sold today that come with a 2 door cab?
- csharptwdec19 5y ago
  You can get a 2 door cab on The Colorado, I think you still can on the Silverado and F150. Most folks go with the 4 door option, so that's what dealers tend to stock, so you don't see them often.

subpixel 5y ago

I'm looking to get my first non-gas car and 40mpg is not good enough. Am I representative of a large part of the market? Dunno.

King-Aaron 5y ago

It's quite funny how they're toting "..smaller more approachable size" like it's a new thing, when the rest of the world has functioned with utes of this size for decades

ngngngng 5y ago
It is funny, but man do I appreciate this as an American. I'm so sick of all cars being huge. I LOVE my little turbo hatchback. But I also have plenty of need for a truck bed as someone on a large rural property. The ad ford released today has me really excited and I am absolutely buying one of these.
- King-Aaron 5y ago
  It's such a shame for you guys that GM and Ford never properly exported our Australian utes over there - it sounds like the 'performance car front / utility rear' model would have suited a lot of consumers really well.