Compact trucks like the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz have seen surprising popularity ever since the segment had its resurgence last year. Now, a new report claims that GM has been benchmarking a Ford Maverick in the USA, and there’s a possibility it could result in a potential competitor in the near future.
The report comes from GM Authority and was shared on Reddit, however it provides no real specifications on the nature of the tests, only that it’s happening. That means that in theory, it could be just harmless testing between rival manufacturers, however, there is an argument to be made that a GM brand like Chevrolet could use a compact truck in their portfolio.
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Currently, the closest thing to the Maverick sold under the GM umbrella is the Chevy Montana, but as of right now, that truck is only sold in South America and is slightly smaller than the Blue Oval’s compact pickup.
Additionally, it isn’t offered with all-wheel drive (front-wheel drive only), and its 1.2L 3-cylinder engine only makes 133 hp (135 PS / 99 kW) and 155 lb-ft (210 Nm) of torque compared to the minimum 191 hp (194 PS / 142 kW) and 155 lb⋅ft (210 Nm) of torque from the Maverick’s 2.5L hybrid 4-cylinder. Should GM truly be working on a Montana-esque compact truck of their own for the North American market, they’d almost certainly need to up the power and add an AWD option.
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As a few commenters on the original Reddit post mentioned, GM has no competitor to the Ford Bronco/Jeep Wrangler, nor do they produce a true rival to the Ford Raptor/Ram TRX, both of which are extremely popular segments in the utility vehicle market. By making a competitor to the Ford Maverick, which has proven to be very popular in the U.S. market, they could hopefully get in on at least a slice of the compact truck pie.
What do you think GM is up to? Readying a new model, harmless benchmarking against their competitors, or something else altogether? Leave us your thoughts in the comments.