And the Ford Maverick plot thickens.
Just in the past few weeks, we’ve seen the upcoming 2022 Ford Maverick on the public roads in much greater detail. That typically sends one loud and clear signal: The official debut is coming. Now, a TFLtruck reader sent in these photos from San Diego, illustrating an interesting scene. You’ve likely seen scores of manufacturer commercials — especially Ford, since they’ve been prolific with their reveals lately — and that may well be what’s happening in these photos.
So, if you see an ad with a blue Ford Maverick roaming the California streets, just remember this: You saw it here first.
Apart from the scene it’s in, though, unfortunately there’s not too much more we can glean in terms of useful information about the truck. Spy shots we posted last week show Ford’s tiny truck from the front, in profile and from the rear, as well as greater hints at what’s underneath. These shots lose the camouflage, so we can get a better idea of the truck’s styling, at least from the side.
The body color wheel arches and front bumper (in place of black cladding throughout the entire truck) shows this may be a First Edition Maverick, or at least an upper-end Lariat model. That’s just a guess, mainly based on how Ford treats the rest of its trucks. It does appear Ford will use a similar trim badging layout to the Ranger and F-Series, though the photos we received don’t show quite enough detail to make out what it says on the fender. Update: We received one more photo (above), and while it’s still a little fuzzy, it shows more detail than the others.
Since this appears to be an upper-end model — and automakers tend to show their best-equipped models in ads — this Maverick should pack a 2.0-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine with about 245 horsepower. As far as we know, the 2022 Ford Maverick will share identical platforms and powertrains to the Ford Escape crossover and, more notably, the new Bronco Sport. Since the application is a bit different here, however, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ford tuned the engine a bit differently, perhaps for better low-end, load-lugging torque. A 1.5-liter, three-cylinder EcoBoost may also be on tap for the entry-end (XL or XLT equivalent) models.
Fortunately, on the evidence that Ford’s probably shooting commercials for the truck, we won’t have too much longer to wait. The company’s new mini-truck should arrive sometime in the next few months.
