Ford Maverick: Forget Hyundai's Santa Cruz, Honda's Civic is its real rival
Cars
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This is the 2022 Ford Maverick small pickup truck.
And it's what Ford is calling a whitespace vehicle and as you can see, they're kinda right.
Well, maybe you can't tell but I actually agree with them.
Now normally when an automaker tells me that a vehicle is a whitespace vehicle, which is something that they don't think has any natural competition.
I usually think they're full of it a little bit.
But in this case, I think they're onto something.
So actually don't think this vehicle lines up against this, or this, or this or this or that.
Well, I think a lot of people are going to cross shop it with things like this or this Now I want you to think back to when you didn't have much money, but you really needed a new car.
Maybe that time was in college, maybe you were starting a family or new job.
Heck, maybe that time is right now.
If you're like I was you bought whatever you can afford that met your needs, or to be honest, whatever you could even get a loan for That was my situation back in college.
I needed something with a warranty and I never even thought about a pick up, until I realized that my choices were a nicely equipped ranger or a strip dodge neon the didn't even come with a second mirror.
Fortunately, this maverick is far from a stripped out model and I'm here to tell you that this truck should actually stack up against about any new econobox that you can think of way better than you might think.
In fact, it might even be a better option than a lot of used cars.
I wanna focus on three main attributes of this vehicle price, efficiency and versatility.
Let's start with price.
Ford says that this guy starts at just under 20 grand plus delivery.
I wanna draw a line under that 20 grand.
That is about half the price of an average new vehicle sold in the US today.
And in fact, it's less than a new Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla.
That is pretty remarkable.
In fact, it's less than a lot of good used vehicles these days that come with a warranty.
Now, it's not all about what you pay up front.
It's also what you pay at the pump chump.
And to be honest with you, this guy has a secret.
It's a hybrid, a full on hybrid.
Ford says that you can expect 40 miles per gallon in the city, that is nuts.
That's like 15 to 20 miles per gallon better than you can get in any F-150 or Ranger It's much better than urban driving than what you can get in a regular civic or Corolla.
Now, if you're thinking that's impossible for a truck, it's partly because the map is built as much like a car as it is a pickup.
This is a unibody there's no heavy separate body and frame.
Yep, it's constructed just like that civic.
And in fact, it's front wheel drive to also like the Honda.
All Wheel Drive is optional however, Now that is pricing and efficiency check and check let's talk versatility.
And as we all know, pickup trucks are inherently versatile.
Now, obviously a pickup truck is versatile by nature.
And if you're someone who's into mountain biking, or maybe you're just someone who changes apartments every year, you can't do much better than something with a bed.
Even if this one is a little bit tight it only four and a half feet.
Ford says that this bed offers over 33 cubic feet of space.
And that is more than double the cargo space you'd get in most compact cars.
Payload is rated at 1500 pounds enough for an ATV or a big motorcycle.
What's more, you've actually got just over 100 cubic feet of interior space.
And you guessed it, that's more than the Honda and Toyota compact.
Although it is less space than Hyundai swanky new Elantra.
I happen to be a driving performance is a key part of versatility.
And this guy should actually drive as much like a car as a truck.
That is a very good thing in my book.
For it says that the standard hybrid power should be good for 191 horsepower and 155 pounds of torque would come from the engine but we don't know what the entire system would be worth.
For also it is not talking about acceleration just yet.
That's more of than you'll find in those compacts.
But then again, even though the Maverick is small, it's about two feet longer and weighs hundreds of pounds more than those cars.
Plus, it's gonna have more aerodynamic drag.
So I'm guessing that the Mavs highway fuel economy is going to be a lot less impressive.
When Ford releases that number.
In any case, if you need more power, Ford will offer an optional two litre EcoBoost that won't just be quicker, it'll be able to tow about 4000 pounds enough for a 21 foot boat and that sounds pretty good to me.
I said it before and I'm gonna say it again, pricing efficiency and versatility.
Those are the three main reasons why I think this 2022 Ford Maverick is gonna be a game changer for the brand.
Now in fairness I have not driven this vehicle yet, so I don't know if I'm gonna like it personally, that said, I'm really impressed with the pricing and a lot of what I see here, and for that reason alone, I'm gonna tell you if you're out there and you're gonna be shopping for a civic or Corolla, or a Mazda 3 or even a used vehicle, you owe yourself a long look at the 2022 Ford Maverick.
