Ford’s decision to launch a sub-Ranger, compact pickup truck in the form of the Maverick is proving to be a masterstroke for the automaker, attracting new customers to the brand.
While recently speaking with CNBC, Ford truck marketing manager Todd Eckert revealed that 25 per cent of Maverick buyers are female, compared to around 16 per cent for full-size pickup truck sales. In addition, Ford says that more than a quarter of buyers are aged between 18 and 35-years-old.
“We really are seeing a new customer coming into Ford,” Eckert said. “And that was really our ambition with Maverick was to appeal to a younger, more diverse customer. And we’re certainly seeing that.”
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The $19,995 starting price of the Maverick is also proving to be a key contributor to its popularity. 23-year-old Maverick customer Christopher Molloy II recently told the news channel that he wasn’t in the market for a pickup truck but decided to go with the Maverick as his first new car.
“I wasn’t first looking for a Maverick. I didn’t know it existed,” he said. “I was looking for more SUV-type. I wasn’t really expecting to get a new truck because they’re so expensive until I saw the Maverick was coming out.”
“In 25 years of being in this business, I don’t know that I’ve seen a manufacturer bring a product out that hit the target this well,” added general manager of Long McArthur Ford in Kansas, Derek Lee. “What we are seeing in buyers is a younger buyer. We’re seeing first-time car buyers. We are having import car buyers.”
Ford sold more than 4,100 Mavericks during the truck’s first full month of sales in October. According to Lee, his dealership already has more than 400 Mavericks on order and is selling them for MSRP rather than hitting them with premiums.
