Upcoming small Ford ute to be called 'Maverick'?

Monday, 4 May 2020

It's no secret that Ford is working on a smaller ute to sit below the Ranger. However, details have remained slim, aside from the fact that it will likely be based on the new Focus. Now, a new leak has linked the Maverick badge with the ute.

This goes against the previous notion that the small truck would be called Courier.

Though, to be fair, the new information comes from US outlet The Fast Lane Truck and cites an 'anonymous source with insider knowledge,' so take a pinch of salt.

The Courier/Maverick will likely take its design from the Ranger, so expect a similarly burly appearance from the half-tonner.

The report also came with an image of a tailgate with the 'MAVERICK' name stamped across. Apparently, the source said it belongs to a “baby version of the Ford Raptor.” Which Raptor that may be is unclear, given the Ranger and F-150 both have Raptor variants.

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Last year Ford released some 'spy shots' of the new Bronco doing some Broncking. Hard to discern much about the looks but at least it'll handle well off-road.

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Previous rumours have linked the Courier/Maverick with the Focus platform, which would make it easy for Ford New Zealand to bring it here. It also allows a degree of electrification, meaning a hybrid half-tonne ute may be on the horizon.

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TFLtruck goes on to speculate the tailgate could belong to a special trim for the Ranger or even a whole new pick-up based on the Bronco or Bronco Sport platforms.

The Bronco Sport will sit below the Bronco in the family and be based on the same C2 platform as the Focus and Escape. That means we could theoretically see it here, as the Focus and Escape are both built in right-hand drive. However, the larger Bronco has already been confirmed to only exist as a left-hooker despite being built off the Ranger's platform.

The C2 platform also supports electrification, as seen in hybrid variants of the Escape and Kuga, which means a ute on this platform could also come with a hybrid powertrain. Based on that logic, Ford could give the sub-Ranger truck all-wheel drive without resorting to using Bronco underpinnings as well.

Previous rumours suggest the Maverick/Courier will get 1.5-litre and 2.0-litre Ecoboost engines as combustion-only options.

In any case, Automotive News reckons Ford is targeting an end-of-2021 U.S. launch with a sticker price of roughly US$20k (NZ$30k). It almost certainly wouldn't be that cheap here, but it still has plenty of room to slide in under the nearest wellside Ranger, that being the 2WD XL Super Cab which starts at $43,990.

Back in the 1970s, Ford released the original Maverick, a small car intended to do battle with the smaller imports from the likes of Honda, Datsun and Volkswagen. It sold for seven years before being replaced by the Granada.

Power for the compact came from a range of inline-six engines ranging from 2.8-litres to 4.1-litres. A 5.0-litre V8 was offered as a range-topping option from 1971, making a face-melting 160kW.

Total Maverick production reached 2.1 million units, with 579,000 sales in its first year easily outpacing the Mustang.