Ford Sees Room for a Truck That’s Even Smaller Than the Maverick
Photo: Ford
Surprise, surprise, the 2022 Ford Maverick is a runaway hit that’s already flying off dealership lots. With the compact pickup proving to be a big success at 100,000 reservations and growing, is Ford considering offering an even smaller option to slot underneath the Maverick. In a word: Maybe!
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The utterer of that indefinite is Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s chief product platform and operations officer. He spoke with Muscle Cars & Trucks about the possibility of offering a truck smaller than the Maverick, not putting the kibosh on the idea but saying that it’d be more likely for markets like South America and South Africa.
Ford Maverick not a replacement for Fusion, says Thai-Tang
Photo: Ford
Thai-Tang was more definitive when it comes to the question of whether the Maverick is the replacement for the Fusion.
“No! It’s not,” Thai-Tang said. “We looked at it as passenger vehicles are getting very commoditized, it’s difficult for us to make money, how else can we use that capital and engineering capacity? We decided let’s play to our strengths.”
And when you’re talking about Ford, there’s no bigger strength than trucks. Ford’s F-Series is a multi-billion-dollar brand on its own, so leveraging some of that cachet with a new entry-level compact truck just makes sense.
Ford discontinued the Fusion after the 2020 model year and it is, for the time being at least, the last new sedan Ford will sell in America. Ford could bring the Fusion name back, however, as an off-road-focused wagon that’d compete with the Subaru Outback. Ford’s in the midst of some pretty sweeping lineup changes, which should wind up with the automaker going all electric sometime within the next decade. And you can bet that trucks of all sizes will play a big role in keep the brand rolling in the green as it goes green.
Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.