Next-Generation Chevy Montana Launch Could Be Delayed

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• Well here is where we are at.

  The small FWD based truck is a limited market in America. The Ridgeline came out and everyone said GM missed the boat but yet it is not even a fraction of the Colorado production.

  Now we have a Maverick. I finally got to spend time with one and found it very disappointing. It is built to a price and leaves a lot of quality on the table. You get what you pay for.

  The brakes are cheap off the shelf econo car brakes. The rear seat room is limited and the rear seat is full not 60/40 and will not fold flat for cargo. The dash is very basic unless you pay for more options. Once you get into the options there is a big jump in price. As for MPG the underpowered Hybrid is the only one with MPG and no AWD.

  Note too the Maverick is not really sold out as much as it is limited production. There have been limits at the plant.

  These things will not hold up to a lot of beating.

  I also spent time with my buddies Santa Fe. He paid more but got a lot better truck. The only issue is you could get a real truck for the same price in the mid size class and about the same MPG. I hate Hyundai but they do have the better over Ford here.

  GM Needs a Bronco and Wrangler challenger now. This is going to be a much bigger and profitable segment than the small trucks.

  These small third world trucks are like station wagons. Everyone on the web says Build it but yet few really buy one. GM did a damn good wagon at Buick yet no one came.

  These small trucks have limited appeal and often you can get a work truck Colorado with a 4 cylinder for the same price as the low end Maverick.

  The Bronco by the way is loaded with tech but is cheaply build for a vehicle that can top $60K, I am not a Jeep fan but it is a better build model.

  With all the cries to bring this truck here in this thread we would be lucky if one, just one was bought by one poster.

  • I think you're really underestimating consumer interest in smaller fuel-efficient trucks. The number one thing that regular consumers complain about with trucks is that they've gotten so much bigger over the years to the point that parking is getting annoying. Both parking out on the town and parking at home. Some modern truck configs won't fit in some single car garages. The number two thing they complain about is MPG.

    You can call it sold out or you can call it a slow-down, but Ford had to announce they were stopping 2022 Maverick orders nearly four months ahead of schedule because according to them they "drastically underestimated" consumer interest.

    It's true the Mav is small and not that powerful, especially the hybrid powetrain. But the truth is that if you want a V8 with enormous towing capabilities and workplace durability, you've got a whole ton of options among the Silverado, Sierra, F-150 and Ram 1500.

    What you couldn't find until now was something actually small with good MPG. You can dip back into time and get a used old-style Ranger or S-10, but those things get poor MPG and feel like death traps on the highway now. I swear they made the doors out of old tuna cans in those things.

    • If fuel mileage was such a factor for all truck owners we would be selling more mid size than we are now. Even now my mid size crew is getting 21 city and 27 highway. Yet most still buy full size. You my friend over estimate the public. Most drive single driver in empty trucks.

      The fable is that the old Ranger and S10 were not that fuel efficient. I know as I recall the MPG was lower than my Present Canyon on my S10 and Sonoma.

      The tuna can is the new Maverick as it is really poor thin body work and Econ car brakes and just cheap low feature interiors. Not even Rubber Maid quality plastics. Don't try to tell me no as I was in one last week. Slam the door and tings as there is so little sound deadening.

      The initial run will do well but after a year or two volumes will settle and it will be low volume model. FWD trucks never have done well.

      Again I am not a fan of the Hyundai but it is 3 times the vehicle the Maverick is. The Maverick is to trucks what a Fiesta was to cars.

      • I think you actually hit on the real answer twice in your post:

        "If fuel mileage was such a factor for all truck owners we would be selling more mid size than we are now" and "The Maverick is to trucks what a Fiesta was to cars."

        If you look at how Ford is marketing the Maverick, it's not being marketed to "truck people" at all. If you look at pretty much any marketing material with the Maverick and people in it, notice the setting and what they're doing: Parallel parking in the city, loading up some potted tomatoes from a plant nursery, loading band equipment behind a club/bar. It's very much being sold as a Swiss Army Knife to non-truck people. About the most traditional "truck people" images you'll find with it are people tossing mountain bikes in the back.

        This is absolutely 100% being marketed and sold by Ford as the replacement for the Fiesta and EcoSport, you're right. Especially with it being the cheapest thing Ford sells next year. It's trying to position a compact truck as the "start here" bottom-of-the-ladder vehicle instead of a compact hatchback.

        "The initial run will do well but after a year or two volumes will settle and it will be low volume model. FWD trucks never have done well."

        I disagree, I think there's a strong market for compact CUV trucks in North America.

        But the fun thing is there's literally nothing either of us can do to know who is right other than wait and see.

  • You completely missed the boat on this question. GM most certainly does not need a "Bronco/Wrangler" fighter, this is the market they should go after. You can't get a WT Colorado for the price of a Maverick, it start nearly 6k more and there are no incentives and gets much worse mpg. It does offer an extended cab with a longer bed. Either way the reviews of the maverick have been positive. It won't be full size crew cab roomy which it sounds like you were expecting, it is compact. These trucks are great for the workers in the Pool/landscape/parts industry which has been ignored. The suburban crowd already has their expensive trucks and have driven prices of trucks to where people who need them to work have a hard time affording them. Don't waste money on a niche market of top off horrible driving and poor ergonomics Wranglers/Broncos, go after the industry that serves people and is much more lucrative.

    The Maverick doesn't jump in price quick, it starts less than 20k and the top of the line Lariat starts at 25k. At 19k you aren't getting a fancy interior. I can't tell if you are just trying to knock it or have unrealistic expectations, but the reviews have been far different than their view that isn't skewed. Only knock I have against it is they don't offer a regular or extended cab version with a longer bed to better suit those in the industry. The 4.5 ft bed (which is only 6 inches shorter than crew cab mid size trucks) needs to be longer to better land those workers.

    • I agree with you. I also think there's a cheapness component to it. The $20k base hybrid version is about to be the cheapest Ford product you can buy in North America when they put the EcoSport out to pasture. I think Ford is going to make sales just on that, people buying the cheapest thing on the lot for their kid before they go off to college or whatever. Most of the absurd pricing folks are seeing now is dealer mark-ups and tacked-on dealer nonsense. That will eventually shake out once they start making more of them.

      The bed is short, but I also don't think they're really targeting folks who absolutely need more than a 4.5' for work. I think they're targeting this directly at suburban/city buyers who are only going to need to load the bed every once in a while. It's why they've got that angle-lock tailgate and built-in tiedown notches into the bed. It's not a substitute, but it'll help. And the other side of it is because it's unibody I have a hard time seeing them spending the money to modify the platform for that mostly just because it'd up the cost so much.

    • Before the truck shortages for trucks WT Colorados in San Diego were selling for $19K-22K. I know as I was shopping for a family member who wanted one in that area. They are not easy to find as most dealers do not stock them as few people want them. Even now they can be ordered below $25K.

      Your landscape guys will not use these as they can't pull a trailer. Mowers do not fit the Maverick.

      I do not expect full size comfort but I am looking for mid size comfort and it is not there.

      The prices do jump much on options as Ford has a system of low base price but models just much in price as they add the options vs many other brands that offer packages.

      This should have been an extended cab and long bed to start with for work. But people buy crews today and that is why it is what it is.

• Look at how crooked the “Montana” is on that tailgate 🙄 I hate seeing this in the plant.