Zac Quinn 
As Ford Motor Company puts Q3 2023 in the rearview, which included a 45-day UAW strike that affected critical manufacturing plants, attention can focus back on its lineup of exciting vehicles. While Big Blue recently pulled the covers off the refreshed 2024 F-150 pickup truck, and is busy launching the new 2024 Mustang muscle car, as well as the new Ranger midsize truck soon, there remains a few surprises in the works for two of the brand’s hottest products: the Bronco SUV, and Maverick small truck. While it was mentioned in passing, the Q3 2023 earnings release mentioned that there are new variants in store for both the Maverick and Bronco soon.
“Ford Blue is rolling out new derivatives of its iconic nameplates, which are hugely popular with customers and generate superior revenue and margins,” the automaker said in its Q3 2023 earnings release. “They include the forthcoming Ranger Raptor pickup, Mustang GTD supercar, track variants, and new extensions of the Bronco and Maverick nameplates.”
There was already talk about Ford doing this, especially with the Bronco line, as we’ve already seen them working towards this with the plethora of trims available for people to choose from. Not to mention, there are still plenty of National Parks for them to name the trims off of. While “work” and ”
“premium” Bronco variants were mentioned before, the remarks in the Ford Q3 earnings release could also point to an upcoming refresh for the iconic SUV.
As for the Maverick, this gets exciting. There have been rumors for a while now, and even photo evidence, that Ford’s been busy figuring out a street performance variant of the small truck, which could include a unique exhaust and suspension package. Maybe even an upgrade in the horsepower department. Maybe they’ll call it the Maverick ST.
Ford seems to be managing its Maverick production backlog, as deliveries have grown a whopping 83.4 percent, bringing the total sales to 23,931 units. That means the Blue Oval’s endeavor to add a third shift to the Hermosillo Assembly Plant in Hermosillo, Mexico, and 6,100 new jobs has paid off. However, that number is just a small chunk of what the overall order bank count likely is.
The addition of new variants should keep the Ford Maverick competitive as Toyota, Nissan, and even Ram prepare to launch their own compact pickups to compete against what is very clearly a prosperous market. Though, with the Ford Maverick order banks getting filled the moment they open for the past two years now, it’ll be interesting to see how big of an impact the competition might have on the Ford Maverick’s continued success.
