100,000 orders for Ford’s tiny truck
Ford Motor Co.’s new tiny truck, the Maverick, is generating lots of early interest, with reservations for the hybrid pickup topping 100,000 and demand coming from California markets that typically favour imports.
The reservations are nonbinding and don’t require a deposit, but Ford is confident they’ll convert into orders as they did with a similar system set up for the electric Mustang and revived Bronco SUV.
“This really has exceeded our expectations,” Todd Eckert, Ford’s truck marketing manager, said in an interview.
“This is the initial step with reservations. But we think it bodes extremely well.”
Ford is making a bid for entry-level import buyers with the Maverick, which starts at under US$20,000 and gets 40 miles per gallon (5.9L/100km) with the standard gasoline-electric hybrid version.
The compact pickup is only six inches longer than a Toyota Camry sedan. It represents a new effort to reach price-conscious consumers after the automaker exited slow-selling sedans.
The vehicle, being built in Mexico, officially goes on sale this fall.
Michael Meadors, 30, of Costa Mesa, Calif., has already converted his reservation into an order for a black Maverick with a sticker price of US$22,030, after he added some safety-oriented technology upgrades. With a nearly 50-mile (80 km) round-trip commute to his L.A. job, Meadors said he was attracted by the truck’s fuel economy and modest size.
“It’s not that much bigger than the Ford Fusion I’m driving,” Meadors said. “So it should be pretty easy to buzz around in heavy traffic in Southern California and find parking.”