Rumor Claims The Maverick Hybrid Is Being Postponed, But Ford's Pushing Back [Update]

The Ford Maverick has received a lot of attention, in part due to its base hybrid powertrain offering an estimated 40 MPG in the city. Despite that, Ford won’t stock the hybrid at dealer lots — at least, not immediately. A rumor is going around that it may also postpone hybrid orders for the moment, based on a supposed dealer bulletin posted to the Maverick Chat forum. Ford’s says it’s not true.

The document, which we reached out to Ford to confirm the legitimacy of, contains a number of scheduling notices for various models. Under the Maverick section, one bullet point reads “22MY Maverick will no longer offer the FWD (W8E) with Trailer Tow Package (53Q). The next bullet says “until further notice, hybrid orders will not be selected for scheduling.”

What’s unclear is which hybrid Mavericks this refers to — trucks ordered by customers, or trucks intended to be sent to dealers. If it’s the latter, Ford already confirmed that dealers won’t have hybrid inventory, and that the buyers who want that powertrain will have to go made-to-order, so all of that would track. A Ford spokesperson reportedly explained to Autoblog this morning that “both the Maverick Hybrid and EcoBoost will soon be on their way to dealer showrooms, and customers can currently order both trucks from their local dealer.”

The company appears to be pushing back on the suggestion that the cheapest, most efficient Maverick won’t be available from the get go. We’ve asked the manufacturer to clarify the nature of the statement in that document — if it’s even credible — and will update this article with whatever we learn.

As for why Ford appears to be prioritizing the 2.0-liter Ecoboost for dealers and overall production, the easy explanation would be that there are approximately 230 supply chain disruptions occurring this year, and perhaps Ford’s decided to focus on trims and versions of the truck people have actually demonstrated they want. The internet — and especially the press (us included) love the idea of a 40 MPG small (but not really) pickup. As for the folks actually plunking down the money for this thing? They may feel differently. Last month, the manufacturer revealed that the hybrid powertrain would make up only 35 percent of Maverick units produced through October, and one would assume the company has the data to back up these calls.

The hybrid Maverick is the cheapest configuration Ford offers, and the only way to get that $20K starting price. Optioning the Ecoboost adds a little more than $1,000 to the MSRP, and equipping all-wheel-drive on top of that raises the price by another $2,200. The hybrid powertrain cannot be optioned with all-wheel drive, at least for this first model year; we’ll see if Ford relents on that in the future. Maybe it’s all part of a plan to make the pricier trucks easier to buy.

Update September 9, 2021, 8:24 a.m. ET: In a response to Jalopnik, Ford Communications Manager Dawn McKenzie confirmed the validity of the bulletin but reaffirmed that the decision concerns scheduling, not production. This is Ford’s official statement:

We are currently building and shipping both hybrid and EcoBoost variants of the Maverick. As with any of our vehicles, we continuously adjust production to match demand with parts availability. We are excited that the Maverick will soon be on its way to dealers and customers and the launch remains on track for deliveries this fall.