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Found this article. Hopefully it hasn't been posted yet. https://www.theautopian.com/how-an-...-ford-maverick-and-even-bigger-sales-success/
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I quickly skimmed (that's all this article is worth to me) and it appears that the premise of the article appears to be making a 3 row suv out of the maverick. if it's an SUV it isn't a truck, and I don't need a SUV, I need a truck bed.
but anyway... a unibody 3 row suv doesn't currently exist in Ford's lineup. I believe it last existed with the Flex. (edit: oh, and there was a short lived Explorer unibody also?)
people have suggested a new Flex based on the Maverick for the past 4 years. if you make such a vehicle, it's not a Maverick. Ford marketing doesn't care what I think, but my opinion is that naming such an SUV with 'Maverick' as part of the name doesn't really make sense.
the Escape is gone after this year, so it probably is a good time for some kind of 3 row unibody SUV. I'm sure Ford was originally planning for that vehicle to be BEV but I'm guessing those plans are on hold or scrapped entirely.
but anyway... a unibody 3 row suv doesn't currently exist in Ford's lineup. I believe it last existed with the Flex. (edit: oh, and there was a short lived Explorer unibody also?)
people have suggested a new Flex based on the Maverick for the past 4 years. if you make such a vehicle, it's not a Maverick. Ford marketing doesn't care what I think, but my opinion is that naming such an SUV with 'Maverick' as part of the name doesn't really make sense.
the Escape is gone after this year, so it probably is a good time for some kind of 3 row unibody SUV. I'm sure Ford was originally planning for that vehicle to be BEV but I'm guessing those plans are on hold or scrapped entirely.
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all the depictions are oddly old-looking, like something from 20+ years ago.
On the Maverick platform, I believe the Bronco Sport shares many of the underpinnings? That takes care of the "pickup turned SUV" concept already.
The now defunct Connect-2 was a very utilitarian vehicle, and I think the Bronco Sport was supposed to take it's place, but it is not a very utilitarian work truck. Or SUV people hauler. With the rapidly growing interest in efficient low-cost vehicles (just like during the gas crunch in the 1970's), perhaps a reintroduction of a Connect type vehicle using the Maverick hybrid drivetrain would be a good idea. Note: car companies like Ford design and test these new vehicles YEARS before they are available to the public, so something may already be on the drawing board.
As I've previously stated, I'd much rather have a 6' + long bed than a back seat. But that is hard to engineer in a unibody. The now defunct Canoo designs with the modular bed and cab configurations was genius. Hopefully an established company can buy or steal the design concepts and produce a vehicle like that.
On the Maverick platform, I believe the Bronco Sport shares many of the underpinnings? That takes care of the "pickup turned SUV" concept already.
The now defunct Connect-2 was a very utilitarian vehicle, and I think the Bronco Sport was supposed to take it's place, but it is not a very utilitarian work truck. Or SUV people hauler. With the rapidly growing interest in efficient low-cost vehicles (just like during the gas crunch in the 1970's), perhaps a reintroduction of a Connect type vehicle using the Maverick hybrid drivetrain would be a good idea. Note: car companies like Ford design and test these new vehicles YEARS before they are available to the public, so something may already be on the drawing board.
As I've previously stated, I'd much rather have a 6' + long bed than a back seat. But that is hard to engineer in a unibody. The now defunct Canoo designs with the modular bed and cab configurations was genius. Hopefully an established company can buy or steal the design concepts and produce a vehicle like that.
Perhaps a new long wheelbase version of the Bronco Sport, called the Bronco Flex, with removable 2nd and 3rd row seating like a minivan, and a truck style tailgate instead of a lift up rear hatch. For even more fun, make the rear roof segment removable like a Wrangler or a Bronco. Trucky-ish unibody SUV.
The Bronco Sport and Escape are the SUV versions of the Maverick. They share the same platform. Though with the Escape going after this year they need to at least make the Bronco Sport as big or a little bigger than the out going Escape. Otherwise they don't have anything to compete with Rav4 and the CRV.
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I agree the loss of the Escape creates a hole in Ford's lineup that needs either a larger BSport or an additional unibody SUV to fill.
maybe someone will have better google-foo than me, but I didn't find any credible spy photos of a redesigned Bronco Sport. I see pics and videos from china and those look like the Ford Everest or some kind of large SUV, probably body-on-frame. it is super hard to test a vehicle in the US without someone getting pics of it, so I don't think it's likely that a new BSport is coming for MY26, but it's not impossible.
I actually thought something new would come in to replace the Edge, but it didn't, and they're just selling Explorers instead.
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Beat me to it!
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people widely speculate the Bronco Sport will grow in size and gain somekind of hybrid drivetrain. the ecoboost 1.5 is junk.
Since it was just refreshed this year it's probably years away until they do the first redesign. I'm guessing around 2028.
A lot fewer body on frame SUVs models compared to unibody. GM has one platform for Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon, Escalade siblings. Ford has the Expedition/Navigator siblings and Bronco. Nissan has the Armada, GX80 siblings. Toyota has 4 Runner, Sequoia, Land Cruiser along with Lexus siblings. Jeep has Wrangler, Wagoneer.
https://www.topspeed.com/american-car-buyers-body-on-frame-suvs/
right, so... now I'm really curious what the point of that article is, other than the author spending a bunch of time hacking together stuff in AI and/or photoshop?
explorer's 3rd row is not at all comfortable, but people wanting bigger just go expedition most of the time. I suppose there's a few vw atlas-sized vehicles that are better than the explorer for internal size, but I don't see this as a problem created by the escape leaving the market.
I guess Ford really might be just giving the current bronco sport a run for the next 3 years but they're going to get smoked by the rav4, cr-v, tucson, santa fe, and other compact SUVs that offer hybrids.
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Being that the BS came out a year before The Maverick, it may be updated for MY 2027. Which makes sense since the Escape continues through MY26.
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