Why we can't have nice things (like truly small trucks) - Alex on Autos

[Scott Asheville]

This is for the subset of Maverick owners on this forum who, like me, have been severely disappointed by the lack of true small trucks in America (hint: the Maverick is a severely bloated whale). Don't wanna watch? I'll summarize. Thank your sanctimonious elected officials. You know, the ones who've driven the average cost of a vehicle in the USA north of $45,000 with rules and regulations and mandated equipment. And who are hard at work driving it north of $50,000.

I consider my Maverick the least worst offering out there. But I'll never call something longer than a Telluride a small truck.

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[Deleted member 14823]

This is for the subset of Maverick owners on this forum who, like me, have been severely disappointed by the lack of true small trucks in America (hint: the Maverick is a severely bloated whale). Don't wanna watch? I'll summarize. Thank your sanctimonious elected officials. You know, the ones who've driven the average cost of a vehicle in the USA north of $45,000 with rules and regulations and mandated equipment. And who are hard at work driving it north of $50,000.

I consider my Maverick the least worst offering out there. But I'll never call something longer than a Telluride a small truck.

This video should be required viewing, in terms of understanding how CAFE standards affect what we can buy in the U.S. I learned a lot watching this!

 

[SuperDave71]

I’m sure he’s correct on the cafe calculations, but I disagree on why we don’t have smaller trucks. I just don’t think people want them. For years standard cabs were on the same wheelbase chassis’ as the extended and crew cab trucks, people just didn’t want them, and manufacturers are happy to sell multi door trucks because there’s tons more profit. (Same area) Additionally, people started buying trucks as family cars, which hurts cafe, but the bottom line makes them more than the penalty so manufacturers give us what we want.

He sounds like there’s some conspiracy forcing us into big trucks. In no other capitalist country of the world is there demand like America because we like them and can afford them.

 

[Scott Asheville]

I've heard the argument that nobody will buy small trucks before - hard to tell when you don't have an appealing product on offer. The last generation Ranger had gone 20+ years without a meaningful platform update. Duh, gee, sales started to slip.

I'll point out that Ford was arguing nobody needed a Maverick for the last decade. When they discontinued the last generation Ranger in 2011, I vividly recall arrogant Ford marketing execs telling the automotive press that all the Ranger owners would be very happy moving up to a new F-150. When that didn't happen, they said buyers would be happy with a next generation Ranger. When that didn't happen, they surprise everyone with the Maverick, and can't deliver it quickly enough.

It's hard to say something doesn't sell when it doesn't exist. A 2-door Maverick for less than $18,000 (because you removed 4 feet of steel and glass and other stuff) - I'd argue it'd sell like hotcakes. The nice thing is that we'll know later this decade. If the CAFE rules are the motivation, then BEV might be the change that frees us from the "perverse incentives" that our brainless legislators shackled us with (government specializes in stupid). And if the idiots that comprise the American auto industry don't deliver it, then the Koreans or Japanese or Chinese will (no chicken tax because they build in USA or Mexico).

 

[Maverickman74]

This is for the OP. Maverick Hybrid is taller, longer, lower, and maybe wider than a 5.2 V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ, with 6500lb tow rating, and around 1200lb cargo capacity. Also it has solid front and rear axles. It was classified at the time as a mid-sized suv. I love the Maverick and it feels like a small truck to me, but I can fully recognize it is not a small vehicle. It is very long, the only place they showed size constraint is in its width. Which hits one of my favorite points about it. Door thickness. So many cars doors are soo freeking thick that you lose valuable interior space. A 60s Lincoln Continental looks big and is big. But its interior isnt as big as you would think. Thanks in part to it uber thick doors. All modern cars are like this, until the Maverick that is. For that I give it massive credit in actually being a useful vehicle.

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