Here in the United States, bigger is often shorthand for better. We want more space, more cargo capacity, more towing and more ride height. In that spirit, many saw the new Ford Maverick as doomed from the start — its small, fuel-efficient, car-like design is everything Americans don’t like in a truck. After last month’s sales numbers, however, it seems the Maverick is an absolute hit.
Ford published its January 2022 sales numbers last week, which show the Maverick working its way up the sales totem pole. The little truck outsold the Mustang, EcoSport, Bronco Sport, Mustang Mach-E, Expedition, E-Series, Transit, Transit Connect, and even the Ranger. Only the Bronco, Escape, Edge, Explorer, and F-Series outpaced the Maverick’s sales — and some only by the skin of their teeth.
The Ranger isn’t the only “real truck” that the Maverick outsold, either. TFL Truck ran the numbers against Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai, and found the Maverick beat nearly everything else in sales. The Tacoma was the only competing truck to move more units than the little unibody Ford, while the Santa Cruz, which many see as the Maverick’s direct competitor, sold under half as well.
Doing Truck Stuff is more popular than ever, but people seem to be realizing that enormous, gas-guzzling, visibility-impaired full-size trucks aren’t always a necessity. For many people, doing light off-roading or carrying hardware store hauls in the bed, the more compact Maverick can do the job just fine. And for the times you aren’t doing Truck Stuff, the fuel economy and compact size make it a much more tempting proposition than any hulking, lumbering half-ton. Think about it this way: Most people may not notice the benefits of a big truck on a fire road, but they’ll absolutely see the detriments in a parking garage.