The Blue Oval’s thrifty pickup isn’t invincible to the car industry’s biggest design trend.
The Ford Maverick—what’s not to love? It’s a (relatively) cheap pickup that’s both useful and usable, which don’t always go hand-in-hand. Buyers have flocked to the simple truck in droves because it offers most of what they need and nothing that they don’t. Still, that isn’t stopping Ford from giving it a big infotainment screen as part of its upcoming mid-cycle refresh.
These spy photos obtained by The Drive show what’s expected to be the 2025 Ford Maverick. It’s totally camouflaged so it’s hard to tell what’s new on the outside, but peeking inside reveals an upsized screen that outdoes the current 8-inch display. All Mavericks sold to this point have utilized that size of screen, whether they’re the base-model XL or top-trim Lariat.
SpyPix / The Drive
Close inspection seems to show that it’s vertically oriented, meaning it might be the 2024 Ranger‘s 10.1-inch display. That would seriously change up the Maverick’s interior feel as the current one is horizontal and fairly modestly sized. There’s even enough room for a small cubby to the right of the screen, which owners have taken advantage of with nifty 3D printing solutions. I can’t say for sure with the photos we have but that compartment might go away with this update.
You can see how the screen fits in the new Ranger XL and XLT here:
I don’t want to seem overly negative about this switch-up. A lot of people prefer a bigger screen, which is why pretty much every automaker has added them to their cars. I just hope the Maverick doesn’t get dressed up too much so that it loses the value proposition. Folks are buying these because they’re handy and economical, not overcomplicated and newfangled.
The Maverick test mule in these pictures is a four-wheeling trim, likely a Tremor—the most off-road-focused of the bunch. It’s important to note that it’s wearing Goodyear Wrangler RT tires, which are more aggressive than the Falken Wildpeaks you’ll find on a current Maverick Tremor. That mirrors the updates on Bronco Sport Badlands prototypes spotted in the wild, so it would make sense for the Maverick to get similar updates since they share a unibody platform.
All in all, I’d say it’s good news that Ford is updating its darling Maverick. The manufacturer could just leave it alone and keep cashing those checks but it needs to stay fresh, especially as other automakers consider joining the compact truck space. Just today, Ford announced that it’s expanding Maverick production as sales doubled in 2023.
Whether you like the idea of a bigger screen or would rather it stay the way it is, it’s sure to be the same fuel-saving pickup underneath. On that note, I’ll end the way I started—what’s not to love?
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