Ford Maverick Owners Wonder If the Fathom Is Stealing the Spotlight While They Wait for a Redesign

Ford hasn’t said a word about when a new Maverick might arrive, and that silence is starting to wear on the truck’s most loyal owners. Over on the Maverick Truck Club forum, a thread about the next generation has turned into part speculation, part wish list, and part therapy session.

One theory gaining traction: Ford would rather let the new Fathom electric truck have the stage first. It’s a reasonable guess. The Fathom starts at $29,945 including delivery and lands in roughly the same size class as the Maverick. Ford doesn’t need two small trucks fighting for the same headlines.

The Sales Numbers Explain the Calm

Ford moved 123,681 Mavericks through the first nine months of 2026, up slightly from 120,904 a year earlier. Hybrid volume hit a record 74,300 units. Meanwhile, the Hyundai Santa Cruz — the Maverick’s only real direct rival — sold 14,811 in the same window and is reportedly on its way out, with Hyundai saying only that its life-cycle plans are unchanged.

That’s not a market that demands urgency. Ford is also keeping the current truck competitive with tweaks rather than a full overhaul. For 2027, the XL went hybrid-only at $28,145, while the Lobo dropped to $32,155 and the Tremor to $37,155 — cuts of roughly $3,500 to $4,300 according to Ford Authority’s pricing report.

So When Does the New One Arrive?

Nobody outside Ford knows, and forum members don’t agree. One cites an unverified document pointing to model year 2028. Others push that to 2029 or 2030, arguing the 2028 talk is just pattern-matching against Ford’s recent refresh cadence. A 2024 Automotive News report, relayed by Ford Authority, also floated 2028 — but Ford has never confirmed it. At least one member says he’ll simply wait for “the 2031 ish model.”

What Owners Actually Want

The wish list is specific, and some of it is refreshingly practical: a five-foot bed instead of the current 4.5-footer, a 5,000-pound tow rating, an extended cab option, a stronger hybrid, and — repeated more than once — real knobs and buttons for the climate controls. One member described his ideal build as a Tremor with the five-foot bed, 5,000-pound towing and the 2.3-liter EcoBoost, at around $50,000. Another shot back that at that price he’d rather have a used Ranger Raptor.

Reality intrudes quickly. The 2.3 EcoBoost isn’t coming to the Maverick, according to one longtime member. And because the truck is built on a unibody platform, new cab and bed configurations would be far more expensive to engineer than they sound.

One warning worth repeating: an image of a “next-gen Maverick” with a five-foot bed made the rounds in the thread, but its file name revealed it was AI-generated. Treat it as fan fiction.

The Value Question

The Maverick’s core appeal has always been price — a hybrid pickup starting under $30,000. A $50,000 version would undercut the very thing that made it a hit. Physical climate controls and a few interior upgrades, though, could arrive in a modest refresh without a full redesign, and those are the daily-driving complaints owners raise most.

The Fathom also changes the calculus. If Ford’s electric truck delivers, the next Maverick won’t have to be everything to everyone — the two could split hybrid and EV duty between them. Until then, the current truck is proven, efficient, and cheaper in some trims for 2027. As one member put it: “Wanting and needing are two different things.”