We’ve known for a while now that Ford is planning a Baby Bronco. This crossover will ride on the Ford Escape’s unibody platform, rather than the Bronco’s body-on-frame midsize truck one. It will offer a more rugged appearance than the Escape, but lack the serious off-roading chops of the full-fledged Bronco. What we haven’t known is what Ford plans to name it…other than the fact that “Baby Bronco” is probably not really in the running.
A poster on the Bronco6G.com forum may have discovered the answer. His search for Ford key parts in the company’s internal system revealed a vehicle named “Maverick” with a reveal date of 2020. As Ford currently doesn’t sell any vehicle by that name and hasn’t formally announced one, it seems likely to be planned for a vehicle that we know is coming, but hasn’t been officially revealed — a brief that fits the Baby Bronco to a T.
The Maverick name has been oft-mooted for the vehicle ever since Ford filed a trademark application for it in 2018. Ford previously used the Maverick name for a compact sedan in the 1970s.
That listing, of course, doesn’t settle whether the crossover would be called the “Bronco Maverick” or just “Maverick.” Ford has branched the Mustang brand out to other vehicles; jumping the name “Bronco” from a truck to a roguish crossover would be less of a stretch than going from muscle car to all-electric crossover.
The vehicle would also have to debut relatively soon in order to be considered a 2020 model year vehicle, as the Ford parts manifest suggests. Still, considering it’s still early in the year, it’s not out of the question for a Bronco Maverick to make it on sale. If Ford is really smart, perhaps they’ll tie it into a certain Tom Cruise movie set to hit theatres in June.
The best way to catch up on the day’s most important product releases and stories. Read the Story
Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.
