Spot on! Henry Ford’s spirit is alive and well with the Maverick…and yes, there is a cost to price. But that said, for the price and function, the Maverick is a serious contender. Maybe there will be a model that has passenger lumbar support with upgraded interior surfaces and stereo and other good stuff, but for now, I’m a happy customer. Ya done good, Ford.
Good points. Yeah, M-Benz did the same with entry-level CLA years ago, heavily advertising it’s $29,900 price. It was to get people looking at the brand that didn’t before. A year or two later, the CLA price increased (and this was back in 2013 before all the inflation excuses).
I’m not familiar with the Civic Touring. Is it a Hybrid or Turbo AWD?
I didn’t intend to suggest that they were pricing it so low that they intend it to be a loss-leader. By saying underpriced, I mean underpriced compared to what they could charge in the open market versus other manufacturer’s closest competing offerings.
The Civic Touring is the top Civic trim. It is about $30k and very much like a luxury car compared to the Maverick, especially in terms of materials and build quality.. which was my point.
…I said “possible upsells” something that I don’t think Ford would be against.
It's cheap because it's built cheap, simple as that. Simple suspension on base hybrid, lots of recycled plastic used in the construction, no LED lights on the back end, no full digital instrument cluster, 8 screen for infotainment, basic manual seats, no cruse control, and such. If it was just a naturally aspirated 4 banger without the hybrid parts they likely could have sold it for $16-17k. With inflation Ford might be selling base no option XL Hybrids at a loss now, but when pricing was decided that may not have been the case. Give that they are likely prioritizing high trims for builds, that likely isn't a huge problem; sources listed here showed that the mid-grade XLT Eco-boost is the most common trim on order anyway.
Agree on all counts!1. Yes, labor is less expensive in Mexico. But I don't think that it can be fairly stated that Mexicans make less-durable cars.
2. Less expensive doesn't always mean cheap. While there are fewer expensive "soft touch" materials and the like, I'm hoping that they aren't using "cheap" materials. Many inexpensive cars that I've owned from Honda and Toyota have less-expensive materials, but they were still durable.
3. My truck actually has really nice fit and finish. In fact, I really haven't seen anything bad on that front that I find problematic.
Many manufacturers find ways to make inexpensive vehicles without making them cheap. In fact, the long-term reliability of inexpensive models is often superior. I suspect that less-fancy tech and older more-proven components often get used in inexpensive vehicles because people who are willing to pay more usually want the latest and greatest (and lots of extra stuff = more changes of failure)
It'll be interesting to see how the long-term durability of the Maverick compares to other Ford vehicles. I'm not expecting it to be much different--for better or worse. Fingers crossed (and extended warranty purchased.
Exactly. At the low end with XL, they stripped out so many features that most people are used to. XLT adds in a lot of things like cruise control and power mirrors that most take for granted. They're not making all that much on an XL but XL exists to draw you in initially with the sub-$20k price (before destination charge, of course). Then you see you can bump up to an XLT for only a bit more, maybe add some other options. Every option brings with it a decent profit margin, and that's the aim. Sell you as many options as they can.
