The Ford Maverick May Be Getting Some Competition from Japan

It’s been a rough stretch for fans of compact pickup trucks, as the market has shifted toward crew cabs, full-sized beds and oversized, well, everything. One of the few models fighting the good fight here in the U.S. is the Ford Maverick. Introduced by the Blue Oval in 2021 as the brand’s smallest truck (which, compared to trucks of yesteryear, ain’t that small), and has been a strong seller ever since.

But the Maverick’s days of dominating the depleted compact truck market may be numbered. Or, at the very least, things are about to get more interesting. That’s because a new report from Automotive News, as spotted by The Drive, states that Japanese marques Nissan and Mitsubishi have teamed up to build a potential Ford Maverick killer. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming compact pickup so far.

Japan by Way of Mexico

The two Japanese brands will build their next-gen truck in Mexico, according to the report, making it pretty clear that the U.S. market is its destination, as building the trucks in North America allows the overseas brands to skirt the dreaded 25% “Chicken Tax” levied on light-body trucks manufactured outside the continent. That also should help keep costs of the truck reasonable, which will be a key factor in providing some real competition to the Maverick.

Powertrain Options

We don’t yet know what kind of powertrain the new truck will use, but the initial report states that the two manufacturers are developing two other vehicles alongside the new pickup: an EV and a plug-in hybrid. With that being the case, it’s entirely possible the truck could come in either a plug-in hybrid or even fully-electric variant.

The Maverick, it’s worth noting, is available with either a gas-only 2.0L EcoBoost engine or a 2.5L hybrid engine. The hybrid Maverick is currently the best-selling hybrid truck in the U.S., but it’s not a plug-in, so the Nissan/Mitsubishi may have an advantage if they decide to go that route.

Ford

Class, Brand & Release Date Remain a Mystery

There’s a lot we still don’t know about the Nissan-Mitsubishi pickup truck. Based on what we know about the brands’ current offerings, it seems likely that the new pickup will be a compact or, at largest, a midsize truck. But we don’t have confirmation of that.

Nor do we know yet what badge the truck will wear. Nissan certainly carries a lot more cachet in the truck space than Mitsubishi, but the latter doesn’t currently offer any trucks in the U.S. and may be looking to enter the very popular market as a budget option.

Finally, there’s the question of a release date and, well, we just don’t know yet. We know the truck is in development, we know it’s to be built in Mexico, but everything else at this time is a mystery. We’ll just have to pay attention to this space in the coming months to see what develops.

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