DETROIT - Ford’s long-awaited new compact bakkie is taking shape and is looking set to be revealed in 2021.
Back in 2019 Jim Farley, who was then a product executive but who is now CEO of the company, announced that the company was working on a smaller pick-up that would slot beneath the Ranger, and since then we have seen various heavily disguised prototypes that did not give any of the styling details away.
But now we have a very good idea of how it will look thanks to some new spy pictures that were sent to the Motor1 website by a reader. Although they only show the body-in-white, we can still see a strong resemblance to the Ranger overall shape.
Click here to see the full set of images on Motor1.
Here's your best chance yet to see the Ford Maverick. https://t.co/pmJN89hWhG
However, beneath the butch exterior, which is rumoured to resemble the Bronco Sport from the front, lies the same unibody platform as the latter SUV. This means it’s not going to offer the same kind of go-anywhere toughness and loadability as the ladder-frame Ranger, but given the increasing leisure orientation of bakkies, that perhaps doesn’t even matter. This is essentially a suburban SUV with a load bay and that’s what the market is clearly crying out for these days.
The new compact bakkie might be better than you expect off the beaten track too, assuming it inherits some of the Bronco Sport’s off-roading hardware.
2022 Ford Maverick spy shots: Compact pickup on the way https://t.co/YBNN5a6ypi pic.twitter.com/7aAjHZrwzT
On the engine front, Motor Report recently speculated that the Maverick bakkie would offer the same pair of turbopetrol engines as the Bronco Sport, these being a 1.5-litre three-cylinder unit with 134kW and a 2-litre four-pot that’s good for 186kW. While entry versions will likely be front-wheel-driven to save costs, the bigger-engined models will no doubt offer permanent all-wheel drive.
The aforementioned US publication also said that pricing in the US could come in around the $20 000 mark (around R300 000), which would make it $4000 (R60 000) cheaper than the most entry-level Ranger.
However, the Maverick has yet to be confirmed for South African introduction and with import duties at play (assuming it won’t be built here) it might not enjoy as big a price advantage over the Ranger.