Yahoo Finance Ford (F) to Halt Further Orders for Maverick Hybrid Pickup
Ford Motors F has announced that it is halting retail pre-orders after Jan 27 for its Maverick hybrid pickup truck for the 2022 model year, stating capacity issues. The truck has experienced an overwhelming demand for both hybrid and EcoBoost versions. Interested buyers will have to wait until order banks open for the 2023 model year this summer.
The cut-down specifically applies to retail orders. So, government and business fleet buyers will still be allowed to order trucks after Thursday.
Ford launched the Maverick compact pickup truck in June 2021. Maverick made its debut as the brand’s smallest pickup truck and the third pickup in Ford's lineup after the F-150 and mid-sized Ranger. It is one of the most affordable trucks with the choice of technology aimed at keeping the vehicle's starting price below $20,000. Its affordable starting price, coupled with its gas-electric hybrid powertrain technology, has garnered attention and made it a massive hit among American car buyers who value environment-friendly vehicles. Usually, a hybrid version of a vehicle having electric motors and powerful batteries besides the gas engine costs more than a purely gasoline-powered model. This feature has played out as the trump card for the vehicle. It is, therefore, quite natural for the truck to have a huge footfall of pre-orders. Last August, before the series went on sale, Ford stated that it had already received 100,000 orders. It has sold more than 13,000 Mavericks since the truck first went on sale in October.
Though Ford hasn’t cited any specific production issue, it is believed that the company did not factor in the huge demand surge beforehand. This has been accentuated by the ongoing supply chain challenges fueled by the global chip shortage. The suspension order could be spurred by a combination of these multiple factors.
Since Ford Maverick's actual sales are less than that of the much bigger F-series pickup, the company’s revenues might not be significantly impacted. In December 2021, it sold more than 62,400 F-series trucks compared to just above 6,000 Mavericks.
Key Picks
Ford’s peers include General Motors GM, Toyota TM and Honda HMC.
General Motors has an expected earnings growth rate of 2.78% for the current year. General Motor’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters. GM pulled off a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 46.51%, on average.
Toyota has an expected earnings growth rate of 9.1% for the current year. Toyota’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all of the trailing four quarters. TM pulled off a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 47.06%, on average.
Honda’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters. HMC pulled off a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 90.29%, on average.
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