Ford starts teasing all-new Maverick as hybrid details leak

Spiritual replacement for the Bantam will debut on 8 June but won't be offered with right-hand-drive.

Screengrab of Ford’s first official teaser video for the all-new Maverick. Image: Ford

Despite ongoing leaks of the all-new Maverick, Ford has remained tight lipped about its new entry-level bakkie as evident by a new teaser video confirming 8 June as the official launch date.

Only depicting the rear facia, of which the tailgate was the first to leak online last year, the 24 second clip doesn’t reveal much else with Ford only touting the Maverick as “unexpected to drive” and not “just any truck”.

While already known that the newcomer will ride on the same C2 platform as the Bronco Sport, Focus and Kuga and provide an alternative to the unibody Honda Ridgeline and all-new Hyundai Santa Cruz, what has remained largely speculative are the powertrains.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GV0QawRXN4

On course to derive motivation from the same engines as the Bronco Sport, the three-cylinder 1.5 EcoBoost and the four-cylinder 2.0 EcoBoost, both paired to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, the Maverick Truck Club online forum, in a since deleted batch of photos reportedly demand by Ford, also confirmed that a hybrid model will be produced.

Although free of details, the setup reportedly consists of the normally aspirated 2.5-litre petrol engine used in a variety of Ford and Lincoln hybrid models in the States, combined with an electric motor to develop a claimed 149 kW or 165 kW in the case of the motor being of the plug-in hybrid variety.

In spite of the mentioned images being removed, Australia’s caradvice.com.au has managed to keep the leaked trio, showing the Maverick in FX4 guise and providing a first glimpse of the interior, which mirrors not only that of the Bronco Sport, but also the Focus in look and design. No exact details were however revealed.

When it eventually does go on sale, the Maverick will sport a price tag of below $20 000 (est. R272 900), though it remains to be seen whether reports pertaining to an entry-level commercial model powered by a normally aspirated 2.0-litre engine and offering a manual gearbox are proven accurate.

Set to be offered solely as a double cab with a choice of front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive, the Maverick will be built at the Hermosillo Plant in Mexico alongside the Bronco Sport, but won’t be coming to South Africa as the spiritual replacement for the Bantam after Ford confirmed last month that no plans are in place to offer it with right-hand-drive.