Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has unveiled the first hybrid pickup truck. The Ford Maverick will get 40 miles per gallon in the city and start at less than $20,000, and it will be the smallest truck in the automaker’s lineup.
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Ford unveils the Maverick
The Ford Maverick will be the first pickup in the U.S. that has a standard gas-electric hybrid engine. It's slated to go on sale in the fall with a starting price tag of $19,995.
Ford revealed the compact truck today as the smallest vehicle in its line of trucks, which is quite profitable. According to CNBC, it fits into the lineup below the midsize Ranger pick and full-size F-150. Ford said the Maverick is about three feet shorter and seven inches lower than an F-150.
The compact pickup category is unproven in the U.S, as no other automakers have such a small truck in their lineups. Ford's expansion into compact pickup trucks comes amid skyrocketing truck sales in recent years. In fact, purchase consideration for trucks surpassed that of cars in 2020, according to data from Cox Automotive.
More details on the Maverick
The Maverick is a five-passenger pickup with four doors, while the base model of the F-150 has only two doors and can seat just two or three people. Ford said the truck's standard hybrid powertrain would have 500 miles of range on a full tank of gas.
It's estimated to achieve 40 miles per gallon in city driving, although the automaker did not provide total and highway mileage numbers. Maverick Chief Engineer Chris Mazur said that 40 miles per gallon was Ford's "rallying cry" for the truck and that fuel economy is a significant factor when consumers are choosing smaller pickups.
This isn't the first time Ford has named one of its vehicles the Maverick. According to CNBC, it manufactured a two-door sedan under the name between 1969 and 1979. The automaker also used the Maverick name for a number of vehicles produced in Europe, Australia and China.
Expanding the truck lineup
Ford CEO Jim Farley has made expansion of the automaker's truck lineup one of his goals. He's in the process of restructuring Ford's operations with a greater focus on pickups and its other areas of strength.
Ford management believes the new Maverick pickup truck will attract not only longtime Ford truck buyers but also new buyers to the brand. In a statement, Todd Eckert, the automaker's truck group marketing manager, said the Maverick "challenges the status quo and the stereotypes of what a pickup truck can be."
He believes the truck will be "compelling to a lot of people who never before considered a truck." A number of Ford executives told reporters during a news conference that the Maverick is "a truck for people who never knew they wanted a truck."
Ford is part of the Entrepreneur Index, which tracks 60 of the largest publicly traded companies managed by their founders or their founders' families.
