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2022 Ford Maverick gets a surprising amount of attention

People notice the 2022 Ford Maverick. You could chalk it up to metro Detroit being a company town, but that’s too easy. The Maverick, despite its modest size, has presence. I expected the truck to draw curiosity. Aesthetically, the MaverickÂ’s closest rival, the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz, is far more eye-catching with a flashy grille and curves and creases front to back. The MaverickÂ’s squared-off truck demeanor makes it an understated attention-getter, and it does have some design flourishes, especially up front with the blocky headlights that Tetris with the grille. ItÂ’s not just the looks. The sub-$20K MSRP offers real value and is an articulation of FordÂ’s strategy to pivot from cars to similarly sized offerings. This is better than a Ford Focus, and it makes sense why Ford took such a big risk revamping its lineup. And the hybrid version gets up to 42 mpg. Ford sold 4,140 Mavericks in October, outpacing the Santa CruzÂ’s still-healthy tally of 1,848 units. Ford says the trucks were moving off dealer lots in an average of five days, which is a brisk pace. The Maverick is also bringing in young buyers, with a quarter of its sales to people 18 to 35 years old.  While the sales figures are interesting, the Maverick starts about $4,000 less than the Santa Cruz, and Ford sells more vehicles than Hyundai in the United States, so thatÂ’s just part of the equation. Ford and Hyundai will define success for their small trucks in different ways. TheyÂ’re both attention-getters, but the Maverick surprised me with its star power. It will be interesting to see if this segment has staying power for Ford, Hyundai and perhaps others. Other news and notes The North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year Award finalists were announced this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show, and the Maverick and Santa Cruz both made the cut in the truck category, where they were joined by the Rivian R1T. The Honda Civic, Lucid Air and Volkswagen Golf GTI/R  will vie for top honors in the car segment. The Ford Bronco, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Genesis GV70 make up the SUV field. Winners will be announced in early January. The finalists were culled from a field of 23 semifinalists. Full disclosure: IÂ’m a NACTOY juror.  HereÂ’s an odd one: Famed designer Marcello Gandini is disavowing the rebirth of the Lamborghini Countach. Lambo essentially restyled the Sian with a modern interpretation of the CountachÂ’s design cues.

Ford using robot drivers to test durability [w/video]

In testing the durability of its upcoming fullsize Transit vans, Ford has begun using autonomous robotic technology to pilot vehicles through the punishing courses of its Michigan Proving Grounds test facility. The autonomous tech allows Ford to run more durability tests in a single day than it could with human drivers, as well as create even more challenging tests that wouldn't be safe to run with a human behind the wheel.
The technology being used was developed by Utah-based Autonomous Solutions, and isn't quite like the totally autonomous vehicles being developed by companies like Google and Audi for use out in the real world. Rather, Ford's autonomous test vehicles follow a pre-programmed course and their position is tracked via GPS and cameras that are being monitored from a central control room. Though the route is predetermined, the robotic control module operates the steering, acceleration and braking to keep the vehicle on course as it drives over broken concrete, cobblestones, metal grates, rough gravel, mud pits and oversize speed bumps.
Scroll down to watch the robotic drivers in action, though be warned that you're headed for disappointment if you expect to see a Centurion behind the wheel (nerd alert!). The setup looks more like a Mythbusters experiment than a scene from Battlestar Galactica.

2015 Ford Expedition stays the course, adds EcoBoost power

The era of the body-on-frame, fullsize SUV is rapidly vanishing in favor of smaller, unibody crossovers. However, Ford still sees life in the segment with the reveal of the updated 2015 Expedition, now available (solely) with the company's 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6. The new truck will make its public debut at the 2014 DFW Auto Show in Dallas on February 19.
The loss of the previous 5.4-liter V8 in favor of Ford's 3.5-liter, direct-injected, twin-turbocharged V6 engine might rankle some of the Expedition's fans, but Ford claims that the change gives the SUV better fuel economy, more power and increased low-end torque than before. Unfortunately, official engine specifications won't be released until later this year, but Ford says engine output will be similar to the 365 horsepower and 360 pound-feet of torque that this powerplant produces in other applications. The EcoBoost is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, and the SUV now uses electrically assisted power steering, for an even greater fuel economy advantage. Ford claims this also allows for better maneuverability at low speeds and better feel at high speeds.
Exterior styling is basically unchanged for 2015. The front end has the same three-bar chrome grille and headlight design, but the lower air dam gets added chrome and LED lamps. The rear gets more brightwork on the hatch, and there's a chrome-tipped exhaust pipe. As before, Ford is offering the Expedition in two wheelbase lengths - 119 inches and 131 inches. A new, optional, continuously controlled damping system alters suspension settings constantly based on 46 parameters and offers comfort, normal and sport modes (just like the Expedition's sister, the recently refreshed and decidedly less-attractive Lincoln Navigator).