Maverick

[Kenv24]

That doesn't match up with what Ford said during the launch. Pam Wylie, Vehicle Program Directory for the Maverick:

Ford targeted a younger buyer with the Maverick, calling the segment the "new adventurer, young, curious and authentic." Describing them as " interested in efficiency and value to go along with capability" and "younger more diverse and more connected than any other truck buyer we had spoken to before."


From the presentation to the SAE conference

Well, that missed the mark. It seems like there’s a bunch of 55+ year-old fat guys like myself driving this bad boy.

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[commadorebob]

I think it is simple. Neither Maverick nor Ranchero had an American presence since the late 1970s and the original target audience were people born after that time period. The name Maverick was likely seen as less goofy.

Well, that missed the mark. It seems like there’s a bunch of 55+ year-old fat guys like myself driving this bad boy.

Ford definitely whiffed the target audience. That said, doesn't change their original thought process. Ranchero is a goofy name that would appeal less to younger buyers.

 

[Escapologist]

So with 20 years slippage, they wanna do it in Fisher-Price and Sesame Street design language to get the 20 year olds

 

[Darryl]

Based on the size and function, i think the Courier name would have been more appropriate based on the Maverick place in the lineup. I think if the Courier had been made continuously, it would have evolved into something like the Maverick. Having said that, I'm glad they didn't because Courier sounds like a city vehicle designed to make deliveries.
. The Maverick is already battling the "It's not a real truck image". I think that naming it ranchero would have made that argument harder to dispel given that the ranchero literally was a truck bed on a car front and sat at car height. Yes, the original MAVERICK was a car too. But it's so different from the original that there is no association to link them.

 

[troyfordguy]

I think it should have ben called the Courier, I mean... I think Ford missed the boat on the naming of this truck. The Maverick (As much as I love my Lobo) was a car and should have stayed that way IMO.

 

[rtphokie]

My point exactly.

Ford thought their buyers for this truck were 20 something old, instead of 45 and older.

25% of Maverick buyers are also between 18 and 35, double the rate of other trucks.

Even more notable, 25% of Maverick buyers are female compared to 90% for other trucks.

 

[LSchicago]

25% of Maverick buyers are also between 18 and 35, double the rate of other trucks.

Even more notable, 25% of Maverick buyers are female compared to 90% for other trucks.

If accurate, that leaves 75% of buyers over 35. Ford anticipated most buyers would be 18-30. That was bad research on their part. It's middle aged and seniors that are buying most.

 

[Escapologist]

Great reading all of this stuff

I’ve never owned a Ranchero, though I have owned two el camino’s, a 1966 and a 1978. Had lots of fun with the 1966. Replaced engine with fresh 350, put in a good 4 speed tranny and a posi rear end. New paint, 2” suspension lift, a new set of slightly bigger rims and tires and drove the heck out of it from 1977 to 1981. Traded it in on a new corvette in 1981. I had just graduated the Army’s flight school at Ft. Rucker. I treated myself.

You must find dial shifters and button handbrakes a lot easier to drive then, stops you confusing them with the collective, or is it the gear down or flaps?

 

[LSchicago]

I think it should have ben called the Courier, I mean... I think Ford missed the boat on the naming of this truck. The Maverick (As much as I love my Lobo) was a car and should have stayed that way IMO.

Maverick was also used on a late 80's early 90's truck overseas. Courier was a decent name but is a van overseas, and only used on rebadged Japanese built Mazdas here.

 

[rtphokie]

Ford anticipated most buyers would be 18-30. That was bad research on their part. It's middle aged and seniors that are buying most.

While Ford has very publicly stated the Maverick was designed to appeal to that underrepresented group of vehicle buyers, I've seen no indication that Ford anticipated most buyers would be 18-30.

Doubling the number of younger buyers is pretty good I think.

 

[Escapologist]

I think I'd say that Maverick was only as bad as all the other ones, which have flaws, in that the OG vehicle didn't qute match close enough.

They could have dug into the Mercury folder for Cougar, Bobcat, Mountaineer, Mariner....

They could have kept it horsey, with Pinto, or newly minted Palomino or Cayuse or something.

But no, with Maverick, they can say they have a moo cow too now. Chryco/Stellantis got a sheep, a desert chicken, some kitties, now Ford got moo cow, horsey, doggy.

 

[Alfetta159]

Are you sure about that?

I wanted to post a photo of this as I saw it here but couldn't find one, so here's the video...

 

[rtphokie]

My 67 y.o. wife went out and bought me my new 2025 Maverick XLT while I was having my knees redone.

....

when I had my first heart surgery. My wonderful wife bought me a new Gibson Less Paul Gold Top.

You've got a keeper there.

 

[MaverickDragon]

Ford thought their buyers for this truck were 20 something old, instead of 45 and older.

Everyone I know with a Maverick is two decades (or more) older than that...

 

[MaverickDragon]

My 67 y.o. wife went out and bought me my new 2025 Maverick XLT while I was having my knees redone.....
That kind of reminds me of 2010 when I had my first heart surgery. My wonderful wife bought me a new Gibson Less Paul Gold Top and brought it to the hospital....

Sounds like you need to have health problems more frequently...

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