The Ford Maverick has been around since 2021, and it has since redefined the compact pickup truck segment. This segment, for interest’s sake, has been on the back burner since waning into near-nothingness since the early 2000s. But since the Maverick’s re-entry, people have sat up and reconsidered their purchase, debating whether they were, in fact, after a larger, body-on-frame truck. In Ford’s lineup, the Maverick is its smallest pickup, slotting in below the Ranger and F-Series trucks. It shares its underpinnings with the Bronco Sport and Escape, boasting a ride quality that is car-like and more fuel-efficient than the bigger pickups.

Unlike the Ranger pickup and F-Series trucks, the Maverick is aimed at a broader audience, and especially those who want the benefit of a pickup but not the traditional traits associated with it. In this regard, the Maverick fits the bill perfectly. It has a 4.5-foot bed, an innovative Flexbed system with DIY customization options, and modern, efficient powertrains.

However, four years after its initial launch, the Maverick still does not have a proper rival. Sure, the Hyundai Santa Cruz is there, but that’s about it. The compact pickup segment needs reviving and is currently a very niche playing field. Yet, could things still change for this segment?

The Compact Pickup Market Is Very Niche

But It Still Needs Understanding

Ford

If we’re honest, the compact pickup market in the United States – for all its size – is a very niche segment. It is overshadowed by the larger, body-on-frame trucks, which are dominating market share and sales, bulldozing everything in their way. The Maverick’s arrival in 2021 positioned it as the closest and best alternative if you did not want to go full-truck. It carved out a distinct space within the pickup segment, righting the wrongs of the past that culled the segment in the first place.

Sole Rival: Hyundai Santa Cruz

Hyundai

Along with the Maverick in 2021, Hyundai also launched its compact pickup, the Santa Cruz. Both pickups are unique because they diverge from conventional pickups. Instead, they find their underpinnings on SUVs; the Santa Cruz is based on the Hyundai Tucson. The result is a smoother ride quality, improved fuel economy, and better handling. But even though they are similar, these two pickups could not be more different.

The Maverick leans toward practicality, while the Santa Cruz targets a buyer who is after a lifestyle-orientated vehicle with ample space. The powertrains, too, are very different, because Ford offers the Maverick with two powertrains, while Hyundai only has one solitary engine (naturally aspirated and turbocharged). The Maverick has both a gas and hybrid engine, which makes it a more versatile option for buyers looking for diversity. Still, the distinctions between the two pickups make them direct, but not identical, rivals. They emphasize different strengths within the compact pickup segment.

If you’re wondering why there is a lack of Maverick competitors, it can be attributed directly to the niche-ness of this market. As consumer preferences shifted in the 2000s, pickups and trucks remained. The market has found an increased liking in trucks and SUVs and automakers opted to chase profits rather than appease a shrinking segment.

This left the compact pickup segment in hibernation until 2021, because keeping a model on life-support is one of the most challenging things an automaker can do.

Ford

But since 2021, the Maverick has continuously been a strong seller for Ford, highlighting that it picked the perfect time to reignite this dormant segment. And if the sales trajectory of 2025’s opening half is anything to go by, the more than 86,000 units sold put the pickup on track for its best year yet.

The Santa Cruz, over the same period, mustered just over 14,000 units. Even with the Santa Cruz selling far fewer units than the Maverick, it shows that the market is ready and hungry for compact pickups. In Latin America, the Ram Rampage and Chevrolet Montana fill the compact pickup void, but their platforms are unsuitable for US regulations or consumer preferences.

Developing A Compact Pickup Platform Is Costly

Ford

An automaker wanting to play in the compact pickup segment must be ready to part with huge sums of money. Though the Maverick and Santa Cruz are actively playing in this segment, the scarcity of rivals should be indicative of how expensive it can be. Sure, some automakers may have compact SUVs in their arsenal – which is what Ford and Hyundai did – but the R&D to develop a pickup out of it has its own requirements.

The unibody construction has benefits, like a smoother ride quality, but the engineering demands to balance the structural rigidity needed for a pickup’s cargo bed and towing capacity without compromising the comfort and dynamism of an SUV is crucial.

If an automaker has an existing SUV platform that can be ‘transformed’, it would reduce the financial burden. But an all-new platform? It involves extensive computer modeling, real-world testing, and real-world durability assessments. These are all processes that are resource-intensive and reliant on specialized teams and facilities.

Speaking of facilities, the Maverick is built on an existing assembly line. If a new compact pickup is to enter the market, the automaker in question would need to modify their facilities to accommodate the new addition. And if it’s a hybrid powertrain, that requires further investment.

Waning Demand Still Haunts Automakers In 2025

Ford

The market shifts of the early 2000s, when interest in compact pickups dwindled, are still very much haunting current trends. The downward spiral was so significant that even Ford discontinued the Ranger in 2011 – which, at the time, was classified as a compact pickup and not the midsize it is today. Bigger vehicles like the evergreen Ford F-150 and Ford Explorer gained favor for their perceived versatility, offering more space, power, and towing capacity. The market saw this and reacted, withdrawing any and all compact pickups from the US market.

This brief background is the fuel that drives automakers’ skepticism today. Part of the reluctance can be attributed to a caution of fear that the returns would be low, or, on the flip side, that the success might be so huge that a compact pickup cannibalizes sales of currently profitable SUVs or midsize trucks. But in all, there is a sense that compact pickups are a risky bet, whichever side of the fence you’re viewing from.

The Maverick and Santa Cruz are successful – albeit with varying degrees of sales – but the segment needs to show signs of stability and consistency. Until an automaker takes the leap to launch a compact pickup in America, the Maverick will dominate the market, followed by the Santa Cruz in a distant second place.

Toyota Readies For Compact Pickup Wars

CarBuzz / Valnet

If the last four years proved anything, it’s that the interest in compact pickups is there. And while automakers may still have reservations about entering or re-entering the space, Toyota has confirmed that it would launch its own compact pickup in 2027, reviving the Stout nameplate. Expected to be built on Toyota’s TNGA-K platform (shared with the RAV4 and Corolla Cross), the Stout will aim to steal sales from both the Maverick and Santa Cruz. And like the Maverick, it will be driven by a hybrid powertrain.

Toyota invested around $2.2 billion for production in Brazil, with the potential to add a US facility down the line in a bid to avoid the “chicken tax” – a 25% tariff on light trucks imported to the USA. Moreover, the Stout’s arrival suggests that the compact pickup segment has woken up from its slumber. It has become a budgeoning opportunity, and Toyota plans to dish while the pot is hot.

Given Toyota’s strong sales record both in America and globally, it is not far-fetched to assume that Toyota could move at least 100,000 Stouts annually in the US. And though we have to wait until 2027 for its arrival, the Stout confirms that the compact pickup landscape will be a lot more competitive in the very near future.

Sources: Ford, Hyundai,