Yahoo Autos Ford CEO Farley not optimistic about building every 2023 Maverick order
Ford's managed to increase Maverick production at its Hermosillo, Mexico plant by a healthy amount. According to production figures posted at Maverick Truck Club, May was the first time this year that 2023-model-year pickup output reached double digits; from 8,694 units in January to 11,061 in May. That output will continue to increase thanks to Ford hiring 1,100 new direct employees for a third shift at the factory, and 5,000 indirect employees. It's likely that none of this will be enough to clear the backlog of Mavericks for this model year. During the same shareholder event where Ford CEO Jim Farley used the new F-Series Super Duty as an example of the automaker's quality focus, he answered a question about Maverick production with some pessimism about clearing the 2023 backlog. "We have a capacity increase in July at the plant, that will help. Unfortunately, we completely undercalled the demand for the Maverick, so I'm not confident even with the capacity increase that we're going to have a lot of Mavericks available to everyone."
The boss noted that there's a ten-day supply of Mavericks at dealers, so, ostensibly, the regrettable news only applies to buyers waiting for reservations. Compare that to Cox Auto writing at the end of April that F-150 inventory was built up to 97 days of supply. But the meager Maverick inventory means buyers who show up at lots are often asked to pay dealer premiums for the privilege of taking one of the compact pickups home.
