Jay Whitehurst is one of thousands of customers who got their Maverick trucks faster thanks to expanded production capacity installed in late 2023.
Photo: Jay Whitehurst | Ford
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In 32 years of driving, Jay Whitehurst has never owned a truck. He’s also never owned a Ford. But after moving from New Orleans to a hay farm in rural Mississippi, lugging cans of diesel for farm equipment and animal food in the back of his Kia Soul just wasn’t going to cut it. That’s when someone told him about the Ford Maverick.
“I didn’t want a big truck,” said Whitehurst, who works in radio broadcasting. “When the Maverick came out, I salivated. I test drove a 2022 model year and walked away thinking, ‘Yeah, I think this is the truck for me.’”
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Jay Whitehurst of Mississippi jumped at the chance to purchase a Maverick when he moved from New Orleans, using it to lug cans of diesel for farm equipment and animal food.
Photo: Jay Whitehurst | Ford
New Fleets & Customers Looking at Compact Pickup Truck Options
Whitehurst is one of thousands of customers who got their Maverick trucks faster thanks to expanded production capacity installed in late 2023.
This expanded capacity helped increase U.S. sales to 12,443 in January, up nearly double compared to the same month a year ago. January sales even topped that of the larger Toyota Tacoma, according to Ford.
Timothy Bruggeman of Shawnee, Kansas, picked up his Ford Maverick Hybrid late last year – his second Maverick. He saw smaller pickups and even test-drove a Maverick while living in Brazil for his job as a power-plant engineer in 2022. When he returned to the states, he found a Maverick XLT at his local dealership to hold him over until his hybrid model was manufactured.
“It’s got the truck functionality I need but drives like a car,” said Bruggeman, who never owned a truck before Maverick.
He said he uses his compact pickup truck for runs to the hardware store for lumber or mulch in the spring, and also tosses his clay target equipment in the bed before heading to the range. His most unique-use case happened last Labor Day, when he put a blow-up mattress in the bed so he had a place to relax while participating in the world’s longest baseball game.
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What's New with the Ford Maverick?
The unibody SuperCrew pickup truck is powered by either a 2.5L FHEV (standard), optional 2.0L EcoBoost engine, as well as an available hybrid option. With a length of 199.7-200.7 inches, the compact pickup truck is agile for small areas but features up to 42.6 inches of cargo width at the wheel house, 33.3 cu.-ft. of cargo volume, and the ability to adjust the tailgate to haul plywood flat in the bed.
New for 2023 is the addition of four packages: the Tremor Off-Road Package, Tremor Off-Road Plus Appearance Package, Black Appearance Package, and Ford Co-Pilot360 Assist Package.
Rizon now offers a combo service body that combines lockable storage and a spacious cargo bed in a single zero-emission vehicle. The body supports unique options including cranes, ladder racks, generators, lift gates, and work lighting for a wide range of vocational applications.
Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation’s new FUSO Academy Dubai Training Center will support technical and non-technical capability development. It features enhanced training infrastructure to improve service quality, uptime, and readiness for advanced vehicle technologies.
Kenworth Truck Company and Peterbilt Motors Company will update software for vehicles equipped with Paccar MX-11 and Paccar MX-13 engines to ensure they comply with EPA guidance on diesel exhaust fluid inducements.
General Motors said it was America’s #1 automaker in U.S. sales for the second quarter of 2026 with total sales of 714,896 vehicles, down 4.2%. GM led in full-size pickup and large SUV sales and reported growth in fleet sales.
Rush Enterprises’ acquisition of Peterbilt of Louisiana adds 46 service bays, more than 23,000 square feet of parts storage, and approximately 107,000 square feet of facility space to the company's footprint.
The International HV515 combines the new S13 Integrated Powertrain, improved driver visibility, simplified maintenance, and advanced vocational controls into a capable dump truck platform. Take a closer look at the HV515, which International showcased at EUFMC.
Work Truck caught up with Drew Walker, Slate’s head of fleet sales, at the company’s design hub in Gardena, California, for an interview on how the company’s pickup and SUV electric vehicles can meet the needs of both private and public sector fleets.
Both Ford and General Motors vehicles ranked first in their respective segments in the JD Power 2026 U.S. Initial Quality Study, and Ford ranked as the mainstream brand with the highest initial quality.
