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2022 Ford Maverick Compact Pickup Truck Covertly Enters Production in Mexico

On page four of the sales report attached at the end of this article, the Ford Motor Company has indirectly confirmed that a brand-new truck has entered production at the Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly Plant in Mexico where the Bronco Sport is made. “C pickup” is how the Blue Oval calls the mysterious workhorse, but we all know that its name is Maverick.
2022 Ford Maverick pickup truck 27 photos
Photo: Stefan Baldauf / SB-Medien
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Ford built 21 examples of the newcomer last month according to the attached document, most likely production-spec prototypes for EPA certification and the like. Developed for North America on the C2 platform, the Maverick features a unibody instead of a body-on-frame construction. The Ranger is superior in terms of payload and towing capacities, but don’t forget the compact pickup was designed for a different demographic.

Ford is targeting crossover buyers who prefer the macho looks of a pickup without any of the drawbacks: gas mileage, ride quality, and the sheer size of a body-on-frame pickup. The Dearborn-based automaker won’t have it easy with the Maverick, though, because Hyundai and Volkswagen will launch compact trucks of their own in the guise of the Santa Cruz and Tarok.

Expected to arrive in showrooms across the United States by the end of 2021 as a 2022 model, the smaller brother of the Ranger is probably hiding a 1.5-liter turbo under the hood. I know that sounds preposterous, but three cylinders and forced induction are what you get in the Bronco Sport as well.

181 horsepower and 190 pound-feet (258 Nm) enable a towing capacity of 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms) in the crossover’s case. The only engine that would be fitting as an option is the Bronco Sport Badlands’ 2.0-liter EcoBoost, which is rated at 245 horsepower, 275 pound-feet (373 Nm), and 2,200 pounds (998 kilograms).

An eight-speed automatic transmission should be standard, and hearsay suggests a starting price of just under $20,000 excluding destination charge for the Maverick. The price point may sound ludicrous in comparison to the Ranger’s $24,820 before freight and options, but on the other hand, it should be doable if the base trim is on the mediocre side of standard equipment.
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 Download: Ford 2021 February sales report (PDF)

About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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