The 2023 Ford Maverick build and price app went live this week, allowing customers to see and experience with all of the various build options and pricing. While that’s all well and good, it’s almost a moot point as the compact truck is already sold out for the model year.
Order blanks opened on September 15th and just seven days later on the 21st were shut down. Ford has said that some 86,000 plus orders were taken for the 2023 Ford Maverick which is an all-time record for the brand for pre-orders in such a short time.
Pent up demand has been at a fever pitch because 2022 Maverick orders had been shut down for the Hybrid model as soon as November of 2021, then EcoBoost early in 2022. They sold out long ago and the line has been forming.
Add in the thousands of customers who had long standing orders for a 2022 model that never got built and who switched their orders over to the 2023 model, and you have the one week sell-out of the 2023 model year in a week.
With what is reported to be a short production year for the 2023 Ford Maverick with a refreshed 2024 model launching earlier, there are concerns by many that Ford will again be unable to build all of these 2023 orders before the clock runs out.
Furthermore, Hybrid models and those with electronic heavy options are the ones customers want the most and the ones Ford is building the least of. The mix Ford plans to build is 35% hybrid and 65% EcoBoost.
Actual orders are anecdotally reporting to be an exact opposite just as we saw in the 2022 model year. The fact is, most 2022 order that never got build are Hybrids and those with packages including things like highly constrained Co-Pilot 360 and other options.
This means that if you have your hopes pinned on a Hybrid, best of luck to you. You can tilt fate in your favor by letting loose of options and packages that are highly constrained but it’s still going to be a race to the finish.
EcoBoost customers are more likely to see their builds show up at their dealerships in 2022 but even there new options like the Tremor Package are still very limited, reported to be only 8% of production. Add electronics or constrained options to that and you might just be waiting.
Lastly, if you didn’t order one in that one week window and really want a Maverick best of luck to you. Watch a few episodes of the Hunger Games and brush up on your life skills. You are going to be subject to finding one that might land at a dealership and fighting off other customers to see who will pay the highest added mark up. You can also find used ones but even there, well more than original MSRP.
If you already got your order in, strap on your seat belts and get ready for a ride. When we ordered our 2022 Hybrid XL, it took six months we thought that was a rodeo. This year will be no different, and with continued supply and manufacturing snafus is likely to be bumpy.
Best advice is keep in touch with what’s happening with your dealership representative, watch the internet news and stay vigilant.