The market for the new Maverick truck may be with the college crowd. I think back to the late 1950s through the mid 1970s when the VW Beetle was really popular with not only students, but young faculty as well. The Fords and Chevrolets in the late 1950s became land yachts. Even into the 1960s when the Ford Falcon, the Corvair, the Chevy II and the Valiant made the scene, these cars did not have the appeal of the VW Beetle, even though a Ford Falcon or Chevy II may have been more practical for many people.
For the college crowd, the new Maverick may be a reaction to the F-150s and Chevrolet Silverados. Pickup trucks are popular these days, and the Maverick truck might just be a winner with the college set. These people aren’t towing boats or camping trailers. I see the time from 60 years ago repeating itself and maybe the marketing people at Ford figured this out.
As far as naming the new truck ‘Maverick’, IMHO, the old Maverick cars weren’t the losers some on this board seem to think. I owned a 1971 Ford Maverick. It was easy to maintain and got the job done. Maybe the same will be true of the new Maverick truck.
The Maverick is roughly the size of the early 2000’s Ford Ranger Supercab give or take a couple inches. The current Ford Ranger can make the previous model look compact when they’re parked nearby.
If collage students are ready to purchase $30,000 trucks and the working class is advised to drive inexpensive older vehicles until they have their finances in order, I wish that I had attended collage, sound like easy street.
@Nevada_545 I didn’t have a car when I was in college as an undergraduate. However, when I began as an undergraduate in 1959, some of the more affluent students had cars and the most popular car was the VW Beetle. Some of the younger faculty also drove VW Beetles. This was true when I began my teaching career at a state supported university in 1965. The VW was the ‘in’ car on college and university campuses back then. The VW was a symbol of rebellion against the big land yachts from Ford, Chrysler, and GM.
Right now, the big pickup are the rage. However, just like the VW Beetle set the trend on campuses over 60 years ago, I think the Ford Maverick pickup with its hybrid drive train and relatively low price as compared with other pickups just might be the VW of the present decade. For what many people, particularly college students, need to haul, it just might fill the bill.
The one thing that helped VW in its time period was a good dealer network. Ford has an established network of dealers. This is a real asset for the Maverick pickup. I might have been better off in my second round of graduate school with a VW. I had a Rambler and there was no AMC dealer in town. Not only was there a VW dealership, but there were independent VW repair shops. The university town where we live has no Subaru, Mazda, or VW dealerships. However, there is an established Ford agency. If the Maverick pickup takes off in sales, I might give up my stodgy Toyota Sienna for a Maverick pickup. At almost 80, maybe I should own an ‘in’ vehicle for once in my life.
Build and Price is up on Ford.com, $20,000 is for the base hybrid which comes with steel wheels if you’re a fan of that look XLT and up have Cruise Control and the Flex Bed
Down here in Florida, the market will be strong in the pool service world. These folks covet the older small pickups because they are easy to access loads in the lower beds. And pool guys need to carry chemicals they don’t want inside with them.
This will also be strong with the garden set that need wash-able bed for bags of mulch or river rock and potted plants while still being able to haul that 4x8 sheet for the workbench.
Bring back and update the Ranchero?