What if Ford made the Maverick a premium truck?

[Old Ford Guy]

I’ve been thinking if Ford does redesign/refresh the 25MY, do any of you think they will upgrade the quality of the vehicle?

Let’s say Ford makes the Maverick into the best compact truck on the market (yes I know it’s the only compact truck on the market, but competitors will come.) and doesn’t focus too hard on making it at entry level pricing. IMO the ‘24 pricing is already getting too high for the vehicle you’re buying. But that discussion is for another thread.

Some of the things I had in mind were:

- Solid quality interior parts, soft touch dash and window arm rests.
- More premium interior colours and materials. Change out the navy blue panelling and orange accents.
- Heated steering wheel, seats, etc as options on all trim levels.
- Adding sync 4 to all models.
- Bigger infotainment screen to get rid of the useless cubby.
- Thicker exterior paint to protect from easily chipping.
- Sharper quality back up camera.

If Ford were to look at the Maverick as the F150 of compact trucks and built it accordingly, would you all still be interested in it? Obviously the price would be a big question, but this is all speculation and I just wanted to hear your thoughts.

i 100% agree with the idea of a true luxury compact pickup truck. if i were in the room when Ford decides whats next for the Maverick i'd advocate vociferously for a no holds barred VERY high end version. think F150 King Ranch 4x4 Lariat (which can sticker for $70k or more )in a Maverick body with all the bells & whistles that those folks who have already proven for years that they're willing to spend $80k or more for on a loaded big truck will i believe be willing to spend $50k or more for a similarly equipped compact truck. Ford could utilize maybe 75% or more of the same sheet metal and other existing components and just upgrade the hell out of the interior along with some unique to Lincoln accents while giving customers a option for a 3rd waaay more powerful ICE powertrain or a Hybrid 4x4 perhaps? people that are willing to pay that kind of $$ for any vehicle are'nt really too concerned with gas mileage anyway. they probably would'nt sell in vast numbers but the 'Halo Effect" on the brand would be significant and the per vehicle profit margins would be insane!! for what its worth Lincoln could sure use a new vehicle that could pull more folks into the dealerships. iam aware Lincolns previous foray into P.U.'s bombed but a new compact truck made & marketed correctly may be worth a shot in todays market IMHO.

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[Last Truck Ever]

I imagine a lot of this discussion or Ford's decision to go lux or not will depend on what happens in the next two years with Toyota and others. If Toyo truly does come out with a Stout and it has significantly more/better lux or premium components, AND they can keep the price at/near a Mav, at that point Ford's going to have to consider upping their game (though I'll be not the first to say I cannot imagine the Stout is going to be priced anywhere in the same vicinity as, say, a Mav XLT.)

But I wouldn't want to be a Ford engineer or marketing/sales guy, because I still think there's a serious tipping point here, when you pack a vehicle full of stuff to the point where literally everyone goes, "Okay, but at that price I can get a ......" Mav is a niche vehicle, for people (like me) who really, really want a small truck, and I think there's always going to be the expectation that a small truck doesn't cost what a Ranger, F150 or Tacoma does, no matter how many "lux" features it has. I think anyone throwing themselves into the small truck market needs to somehow keep that in mind, no matter how attractive small is, for a great number of people it ceases to be attractive at big truck price.

 

[raymaines]

I think Ford could upscale the Mav and still stay true to its economy roots. It would be a “Kings Ranch” edition except I don’t like that name so I’m going to call it the Platinum-level package. And here’s how it happens...

All Platinum Mav’s would be all-the-time AWD, hybrids with towing and off-road packages offered. Most importantly, the drivers' experience would be seriously upgraded.

For me at least, that means the new upscale Mav has to have a better braking system. No more grabby silliness as the brakes transition from regen to hydraulics. That makes the truck feel cheap, crude, and unfinished. We can’t have that.

The basic truck is pretty nice but a premium truck would have a number of improvements. On the outside, we would have color-matched bumpers and other plastic bits, fog lights, front tow hooks, LED lights all around, hydraulic dampers on the tailgate and under the hood, an engine cover, and improved suspension bits.

The interior is where things get upgraded the most. First of all, a Platinum level Mav needs more sound deadening for an even quieter ride and nicer “soft touch” materials on the dash and door panels. The totally dumb shit manual RV mirror just has to go. Outside mirrors that fold in aren’t too important on a small truck but it would be nice if they tipped down when in reverse. A 60/40 split rear seat would be super nice and I also want rain-sensing windshield wipers. There should be two or three memory positions for the driver's seat And the two front seats should be ventilated as well as heated.

I get that I’m not buying a Limited Edition F-150 and I also understand more than a few of us are buying the least expensive truck in the known universe, but I think there is room for an upgrade Laret/Lux Mav.

 

[Old Ford Guy]

They don't need to. This is the issue with affordable cars. Everyone says they want affordable cars, and then they complain that those affordable cars have more plastic in the interior and don't have all the latest tech goodies.

So brands add all of these things in, and raise the price to reflect that as they should. Then people complain that cars are getting too expensive, it's a vicious cycle.

I didn't expect a BMW when I bought our maverick. I don't want something like BMW "quality" been there, done that, no thank you. I've found that quality and reliability tend to be on opposite ends of the spectrum anyways, let me elaborate.

Every Japanese, American, and Korean car I've owned has had lackluster quality, but great reliability. I've never ridden in a Honda that didn't sound like it was constantly rattling itself apart, my dad's Toyota Tercel had the actual seams of the seat covers splitting open and foam from the seats coming out when it was just a few years old. But the greasy bits have almost always been incredibly dependable, the maverick should continue this trend based on what I'm seeing.

Whereas quality has always been a high point in our European cars, but reliability has been awful. Our BMW and Jag had very well put together interiors, gave us a nice place to sit while we waited for a tow truck.

Tldr: The maverick is an extremely compelling product as is, rasing the price by thousands would negate any improvements Ford made with it.

i agree with most of your post however i believe that the massive demand for a <$25k BHEV whether truck/cuv or car would sell in massive #'s. the question is can you find a way to make $$ doing it in today's market. if i were Ford(i know how presumptuous that sounds) i would narrow the different optional choices to packages within the 3 trim levels. if you want a truck for under $25k then you get the 'plain Jane' version, for more goodies get the XLT, if you want it all them get ready to pay a premium for that stuff. there's a concept in the industry called the 'Halo Effect' as in a really cool high end vehicle will get people into the dealerships and then you can sell them something else. the same phenomenon can occur at the low end of the market as well with the right vehicle. how many folks go to a dealership looking for this or that vehicle and end up buying something else? it happens all the time.

 

[OneAlienBoi]

i agree with most of your post however i believe that the massive demand for a <$25k BHEV whether truck/cuv or car would sell in massive #'s. the question is can you find a way to make $$ doing it in today's market. if i were Ford(i know how presumptuous that sounds) i would narrow the different optional choices to packages within the 3 trim levels. if you want a truck for under $25k then you get the 'plain Jane' version, for more goodies get the XLT, if you want it all them get ready to pay a premium for that stuff. there's a concept in the industry called the 'Halo Effect' as in a really cool high end vehicle will get people into the dealerships and then you can sell them something else. the same phenomenon can occur at the low end of the market as well with the right vehicle. how many folks go to a dealership looking for this or that vehicle and end up buying something else? it happens all the time.

According to a Ford insider on the General Motors Insider Forums named BORG, Ford is planning a small entry level EV truck and crossover in the near future. So it seems like Ford is skipping PHEV and just going straight to EVs when it comes to a smaller truck.

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