Manoli Katakis 
Somebody inside the Ford Hermosillo Assembly Plant in Mexico seems to have nabbed a photo of a prototype 2022 Ford Maverick pickup truck running down the assembly line, where it was then uploaded to Facebook and shared on a group page. There it is, everybody. The Bronco Sport-sized truck destined to slot below the mid-sized Ranger in the Ford lineup. Thankfully, it’s not at all dinky looking, and in kind of reminds us of the 2021 Ford F-150 pickup truck. But this little guy is likely destined for lighter, more maneuverable types of work.
MC&T first pointed out that Ford Motor Company is planning to reveal a “white space” vehicle this year, and it seems like the truck’s official debut is just around the corner at this point. The 2022 Ford Maverick is expected to ride on the same C2 platform as the newly launched Ford Bronco Sport, and may even see a bit of Ford Transit Connect in its chassis, as well.
The Ford C2 platform supports all-wheel-drive, but the 2022 Ford Maverick is expected to have front wheel drive as standard, with AWD as the upgrade, so there’s no reason to worry about all-weather usability. We believe that its base engine will be the 162 hp/144 lb-ft 2.0L four-cylinder found in the Transit Connect. The 181 hp/190 lb-ft 1.5L three cylinder turbo in the Bronco Sport is rumored to be the upgrade, likely paired with AWD.
Previous spy shots have revealed that the 2022 Ford Maverick will be very reminiscent of the new 2021 Ford Bronco Sport. The HVAC controls, audio buttons and screen all look like they may be lifted from the Bronco Sport, but it still has a different overall design and layout in comparison. Most interesting is the dashboard trim, which is a cool speckled white and gray material. The test prototype also has Ford’s now familiar rotary transmission selector. A manual transmission is also rumored, but details remain unclear at this time.
Forum threads that originated last year claim that Ford is preparing for an estimated sales volume of around 100,000 units within its first model year. When that time comes, the Ford Maverick will launch with one body style: a four-door crew cab. Proportionally, the Ford Maverick could be a full 2 feet shorter in length than the midsize Ford Ranger, pointing to a stocky truck bed. If you haven’t guessed by now, it’s also going to be a unibody truck. Such vehicles are sold all over around the world, and a recent example is the Fiat Strada and Ram 700.
