“Maverick” used to be the name on a rebadged Nissan Terrano 4x4 but this one is a bit different. It’s all new, compact of size at a smidge over 5m and claimed to be the first hybrid pick-up – in America but (we think) in the UK as well. Across the pond it’s being sold as the most fuel-efficient truck on the market, with 40mpg and a 500-mile range.
The Maverick eschews pick-up old-tech – the separate chassis, diesel motor, manual gearbox and rugged 4x4 drivetrain – for something very un-truck-like. The four-door, five-seat double-cab is unitary construction and in standard form has a petrol engine driving the front wheels via a continuously variable transmission (CVT).
Despite this Ford claims it delivers on the things that people expect of a double cab: butch looks, and a big and flexible load bed and ability to tow. In this form it’s hardly an off-roader then and with a payload maximum of just 680kg it won’t convince the UK taxman that it’s a vat-exempt commercial vehicle, but it still makes some valid work/lifestyle points for people, in Ford’s words, “who do stuff and make things”. Like DIYers and party people.