Couldn’t wait on Ford any longer..

[bgn]

More like settled for one. It's not a vehicle anyone would buy a poster of to hang in their room when they were little hoping to someday be successful enough to afford one.

Who cares? Is the Maverick, a cheap Ford, worthy of a poster on a kid's wall?

Come on...

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[CTYankee]

The Corolla op bought doesn't have a hybrid battery. He even mentioned he would have to wait months to get a hybrid Corolla showing that it isn't just Ford that's constrained on hybrids. It's a global battery shortage. If he switched to a base XLT Ecoboost he could have been built already. That's what I would have done instead of buying a Corolla. Not 41 mpg great but a truck form factor will be more versatile for years to come.

Let's not overlook how long many EB customers have been, and still are, waiting for their trucks. For the OP, that may have been too much uncertainty.

Personally, I would much rather have my EB Maverick than a Corolla, but I also bought my Maverick off the lot at MSRP over a year ago as a spare vehicle. I'm also retired and don't need to worry about a reliable commuter vehicle.

Given that, I'm in no position to judge those who decide not to endure the order process and the apparently unreliable or non-existent communications.

 

[1929]

Good to hear that you were able to acquire a vehicle that will fit your needs.

Ordering then waiting an unknown amount of time to receive vehicle is poor on Fords part. Kudos to Ford for creating such a popular vehicle, they just need to improve on the fulfillment process.

90% of the time Corolla and Maverick serve the save purpose, basic transportation. They both offer hybrid or conventional, awd or FWD, compact 4 door vehicles, pricing under $30K. Maverick offers utility of towing, a pickup bed, offroad capability that makes it the Swiss army knife of it's class that is unmatched by any other manufacturer. No wonder it appeals to so mny people with differing needs.

 

[rmay635703]

Glad you got a vehicle but it seems like you ordered the hottest vehicle in the country in September of 2022. There are still people who ordered in 2021 waiting. Comparing your process of buying a Toyota vs buying the hottest vehicle in the country is a little silly. There aren't any people clamoring to buy a Corolla.

If it’s the hottest vehicle in the country why does Ford produce so few?

 

[NoVaJimmy]

If it’s the hottest vehicle in the country why does Ford produce so few?

I guess you didn't read my long winded response. Most people don't understand product management or how things work especially in the auto industry. Development for the Maverick probably started in 2017 or 2018. They forecast how many they're going to sell and decide on where they're going to manufacture it, in this case they sensibly chose the Hermosillo factory due to the cheap labor and how closely related the Maverick is to the Bronco Sport which is also produced there. That factory has production limitations. They can only make so many there. When Ford planners were figuring this all out in 2018 or so they had no clue that a pandemic would happen causing supply chain issues and inflation then a war causing gas prices to rise among other things. They can't just produce more Mavericks, the factory is running at max capacity. They also can't just make it at another factory, that requires a ton of retooling, planning, labor planning, etc etc, the kind of planning and preparing that takes years. It's just not that easy. This is more than what they even planned to produce and it's going to be a while until they can increase production.

Another thing people don't understand is that Ford execs don't just wake up one day and say "hey, let's sell a small pick up truck starting next week". Normal vehicle development timelines are about 6 years. 6 years of planning, design, research and development, testing. Ford compressed the Maverick timeline to about 3 years to reduce development costs. Three years is the blink of an eye in the automotive manufacturing world.

 

[PlantMan]

If it’s the hottest vehicle in the country why does Ford produce so few?

Must be other limits within Ford like Ecoboost engine availability or transport limitations. Since the plant was upgraded to produce 320K+ vehicles/yr, and since the next-gen Transit Connect was cancelled, you'd think Ford would be cranking out Ecoboost Mavericks. While the current expected MY23 production has 10-20K available Ecoboost Mavericks, I think Ford could easily sell another 50K or more Ecoboost Mavericks delivered as dealer stock units. Maybe Ford really doesn't want to build more gas units, but they sure don't mind selling tons of gas F-150 and Superduty models.

 

[Lucky B]

On January 2, 2023 I finally gave up and bought a Maverick that had been refused. My October 20, 2021 order is still valid but not even scheduled for the 2023 model. It is a priority 2. I just needed my vehicle. So, I found a XLT, EB, Hot Pepper RED, with AWD, 4k tow package, and Co-pilot. The dealer did do a markup but not as much as I was seeing in past months. I drove the truck home and so far, am very happy with it. Lots more bells and whistles than I had planned on but will actually read the manual and learn to use them. The 4k tow package may be needed as the wife is now saying she wants a trailer and to head from Virginia to Oregon and maybe Alaska. She says she is ready to replace our dog and take him on the trip too. Good Luck to us!

I will decide what to do with my 2021/2022 order if/when it arrives. It is a Hybrid.

 

[LessFrequent]

Glad you could get a car you needed when the Maverick didn’t work out. Sorry about all the angry Maverick diehards that don’t seem to want to acknowledge other vehicles exist, despite Ford loving to mention all the new to truck customers ordering Mavericks.

To their defense, I think the OPs point went over a lot of their heads...

 

[NoVaJimmy]

To their defense, I think the OPs point went over a lot of their heads...

Unfortunately OP doesn't really have a point. It's like comparing buying tickets to your local high school's production of fiddler on the roof to buying tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway.

 

[mikegs1952]

More like settled for one. It's not a vehicle anyone would buy a poster of to hang in their room when they were little hoping to someday be successful enough to afford one.

Like the cheap Maverick is something to be proud of. Guarantee the Corolla (any Toyota) will outlast the Maverick and be more reliable. Too bad Toyota does not have a direct competitor (yet). Have a great day

 

[the_mad_end]

Toyota isn't taking thousands of custom orders. When you go to a Toyota dealer with a particular build, they check their allocations that are inbound, and if it isn't going to their store they do a dealer exchange and swap an allocated unit. It's not the same process. That Corolla was being built either way.

Plus, we're not exactly talking about the same demand. Toyota has plenty of models with supply issues and delays. You just didn't order one. Try getting a RAV4 Hybrid.

Congrats on getting your vehicle.

 

[AltoBAP]

I guess you didn't read my long winded response. Most people don't understand product management or how things work especially in the auto industry. Development for the Maverick probably started in 2017 or 2018. They forecast how many they're going to sell and decide on where they're going to manufacture it, in this case they sensibly chose the Hermosillo factory due to the cheap labor and how closely related the Maverick is to the Bronco Sport which is also produced there. That factory has production limitations. They can only make so many there. When Ford planners were figuring this all out in 2018 or so they had no clue that a pandemic would happen causing supply chain issues and inflation then a war causing gas prices to rise among other things. They can't just produce more Mavericks, the factory is running at max capacity. They also can't just make it at another factory, that requires a ton of retooling, planning, labor planning, etc etc, the kind of planning and preparing that takes years. It's just not that easy. This is more than what they even planned to produce and it's going to be a while until they can increase production.

Another thing people don't understand is that Ford execs don't just wake up one day and say "hey, let's sell a small pick up truck starting next week". Normal vehicle development timelines are about 6 years. 6 years of planning, design, research and development, testing. Ford compressed the Maverick timeline to about 3 years to reduce development costs. Three years is the blink of an eye in the automotive manufacturing world.

Spot on. Plus, the Mav is a low profit vehicle. Ford isn't going to dump hundreds of millions of dollars into building this at an additional factory, for what will most likely be short term (relatively speaking) demand.

They tried that with the Fusion in 2016/2017 time frame, building it in Mexico and adding production in Flat Rock. High demand didn't sustain so production in FRAP was short lived.

The economy is slowing; vehicle sales will slow and demand will level out.

 

[SDMavTremorXLT]

Totally understand the OP. It’s not a truck but it gets good mileage. That’s all he was trying to say.

I too gave up on getting a new Mav XLTremor and Bought a sweet used Ranger - 2021 XLT 302A FX4 Tech and Tow w/ 11k miles for $37k. Sticker on the Mav was a hair under $35k.

I’ll see what my situation is when and if it ever gets delivered. I reserved a Lightning within three minutes of the system opening and waited almost 2 years while Ford raised prices beyond what was affordable and I couldn’t wait on a Mav while my daily driver depreciated by the minute. The Lightning seemed too good to be true at a $40k base and boy was it!

Some of us don’t want or can’t afford a $60k+ truck and with the used car market coming back down to earth I got a more capable truck with just as good gas mileage as a XLTremor.

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