Ford, Hyundai haul out new compact pickup offerings

The reasons for smaller and niche pickups

Two automakers see a need, but they’re coming at it with dramatically different offerings

Today’s midsize pickups are doing what a standard light-duty truck would have done 20 years ago.

As full-size pickups grow larger and more expensive, Ford and Hyundai are looking to get city dwellers, younger buyers and first-time customers into smaller trucks.

Hyundai in April revealed the Santa Cruz, a smaller pickup designed for customers who typically buy crossovers, and Ford reportedly plans to launch the Maverick small pickup that will slot below the midsize Ranger, serving as a new entry-level vehicle for the brand.

The size and price of pickups have grown over the past 20 years, said Robert Karwel, senior manager of the Canadian automotive practice at J.D. Power. A standard light-duty pickup, such as the F-150 or Ram 1500, has the towing capacity of a heavy-duty pickup from 20 years ago, he said.

Today’s midsize pickups, meanwhile, are doing what a standard light-duty truck would have done back then.

“That then opens up the bottom for a true entry-level compact pickup,” Karwel said. “That was a very popular segment in Canada and North America decades ago. It looks poised to come back.”

While Ford has not confirmed that it will be releasing such a truck, it has promised to introduce an affordable “white space” product by 2022. Prototype spy photos of the truck, meanwhile, were leaked in the press.

Ford on June 3 said it will reveal the Ford Maverick pickup on June 8. The vehicle, engineered on the same platform that underpins the Ford Escape and Bronco Sport crossovers, is expected to start at less than US $20,000 ($25,100) in the United States.

PRICE IS PARAMOUNT

The success of any compact pickup would be tied to pricing it from about $25,000 to $30,000, Karwel said. That would be seen as a bargain over midsize pickups, commonly priced around $35,000 to $40,000.

“These things have to be priced low enough for them to be accessible to young consumers.”

Steve Chipman, CEO of Winnipegbased Birchwood Automotive Group, said a compact pickup such as the Maverick would be a “niche” product, and not necessarily designed to appeal to traditional truck buyers.

“I don’t think that a guy driving a big pickup is going to say, ‘I need a Maverick,’ ” said Chipman, whose group owns a Ford dealership in Winnipeg.

The Maverick arrives as the number of Canadians using pickups as their main mode of transportation has risen in recent years. Pickups accounted for 24 per cent of the total Canadian new-vehicle market in 2020, according to the Automotive News Data & Research Center. That compares with about 18 per cent of the market five years earlier.

While demand for larger pickups has remained high among traditional buyers, the market for midsize pickups has grown, thanks in large part to buyers in more urban areas who use them to both get around town and escape the city.

“A lot of younger people are living in townhouses and condos now, so sometimes parking space is limited,” said Joe Comacchio, vehicle line manager for trucks at Ford. “So, we know that people use the [Ford Ranger midsize pickup] as their primary day-today mobility, but they also need a truck on weekends for recreational pursuits such as camping and kayaking.”

SANTA CRUZ BRINGS ‘BALANCE’

While Ford is leaning into its truck heritage, Hyundai is basing the design of the Santa Cruz on its crossovers. Hyundai’s new Santa Cruz pickup shares many characteristics with the Tucson crossover, and its four-foot bed is not designed for the typical pickup buyer in mind.

“It’s kind of the best of both worlds, but without trying to be something we’re not,” said Steve Flamand, Hyundai Canada director of product and corporate strategy. “We’re not trying to be a three-quarter-ton truck. It’s really meant to be for the masses, a vehicle that has extra functionality but without the compromises that come with those other executions.”

Flamand said the compact crossover segment, in which the Tucson competes, has gotten so large in recent years that “no one single vehicle” can fulfill the needs of every customer in it. Hyundai hopes the Santa Cruz appeals to city dwellers who might not need the full size and capability of a typical pickup but would like to use the bed to haul sports gear or large equipment that might not fit in a crossover.

“It’s a balance of [being] good-looking, fun to drive, utilitarian and capable,” he said.

Hyundai sees a “big opportunity” for the Santa Cruz to perform well with buyers in western Canada, where Flamand said the brand’s light-truck sales have lagged those in Ontario and Quebec.

Pricing on the Santa Cruz has not been announced but is not expected to veer too far from that of the 2022 Tucson, which starts at $29,524 including shipping fees, according to Hyundai Canada’s website.

‘NOT EVERYONE NEEDS’ BIG TRUCKS

The market for smaller pickups will likely grow more competitive in the coming months and years as Ford and Hyundai’s offerings reach Canadian showrooms and as other automakers redesign their current midsize offerings. Nissan, for example, is redesigning the Frontier for the 2022 model year for the first time in 17 years.

Smaller pickups appeal to a group of buyers that are different from those who buy full-size pickups, said Scott Pak, Nissan Canada senior manager of product planning. Larger trucks are “just bigger and more expensive,” and “not everyone needs that,” he said.

“If you live anywhere near a city downtown or even in the smaller streets of, say, Quebec, driving a fullsize pickup might be a challenge, especially when it’s snowing and you have snow banks,” Pak said. “The streets can get even more crowded.”

Michael Martinez and Laurence Iliff contributed to this report.