Poor Ford Ranger is up against something a big brother never wants to happen. He is being dominated by his little brother, the Ford Maverick. While the Ford F-150 is the head of the family, the 2022 Ford Ranger should be next in line. But the 2022 Ford Maverick passed it by by a significant sales margin.
Sales of the 2022 Ford Maverick paralyze the Ford Ranger
The 2022 Ford Ranger is a great truck to consider, but the smaller Ford Maverick stole the spotlight. The 2022 Maverick outsold the 2022 Ranger by a considerable margin. While the 2022 Ranger moved 57,005 units in 2022, the Maverick sold 74,370 models.
What ford authority mentions, that’s a difference of 17,365 between sales. That’s a big win for the little Maverick, and a bit of an embarrassing loss for the aging Ford Ranger.
Additionally, the Ford Maverick only sold 13,258 models in 2021, thus experiencing a 460.94% increase in sales year-over-year. Meanwhile, the Ranger sold 94,775 units in 2021 and faces a sales decline of 39.84 percent.
Adding insult to injury, sales of the 2023 Ford Maverick surpassed sales of the 2022 in a week. When the order banks opened in September, more than 80,000 sales were racked up at a brisk pace.
Why is the Maverick better than the Ranger?
The 2022 Ford Ranger and 2022 Ford Maverick don’t compare apples to apples. For example, the Maverick is a weaker compact truck option, while the Ford Ranger is a beefier midsize truck.
However, price can play a role. The 2022 Maverick starts at $20,995, while the 2022 Ranger starts at $25,930. That’s a price difference of $4,935 before destination fee and dealer surcharges are added. Plus, it costs even more to equip both trucks with 4×4 or AWD.
The standard Maverick engine cannot be combined with AWD, but it is a hybrid! The 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine is paired with an electric motor to generate 191 hp and 165 pound-feet of torque. It gets an EPA-estimated 44 mpg in the city and up to 33 mpg on the highway.
The Ranger has a standard 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine with 270 hp and 310 pound-feet of torque. It gets an EPA-estimated 20 mpg in the city and up to 26 mph on the highway. But the Ranger can tow up to 7,500 pounds and haul a payload of up to 1,905 pounds.
With the Maverick Hybrid, you can tow around 2,000 lbs. You must upgrade to the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 250 hp and 277 lb-ft of torque to access AWD and tow up to 4,000 lbs. The Maverick can carry a payload of up to 1,564 pounds.
Does the Maverick or the Ranger have better features?
The 2022 Ford Maverick may have an advantage because it’s new. The 2022 Ford Ranger has been the same since it returned to the United States in 2019. However, it is the same global model that was updated in 2012.
Critics aren’t shy about pointing out that the Ranger could use an updated interior with fewer hard plastics and cheap materials. The Maverick has a higher-quality interior with modern touches and innovative storage solutions.
That Maverick has a unibody design, which means it drives more like an SUV. Could be more comfortable than the Ranger. But Ranger has traditional body-on-frame construction for better off-road capabilities.
The Maverick may be outselling the Ranger because it’s new, affordable, saves fuel, has a roomy interior, and has more advanced technology. But maybe the redesigned 2024 Ford Ranger will do a little better.