Aren't maintenance items like tires, brakes, batteries, suspension components, that sort of thing more expensive on larger trucks? The maverick seems to have maintenance and repair costs that are pretty comparable to economy cars like the civic and Corolla.
I can't speak on the maintenance costs for an f-150, but I have some family members who own newish heavy duty trucks. They like their trucks a lot, but that is something they mention a lot, the fluid changes, the basic maintenance items, it all adds up a lot more than with smaller, cheaper vehicles.
My F150 gets 21-25 mpg depending on speed, has a 6.5 ft bed can tow 11k lbs and has 470 lb/ft. Maintenance is exactly the same as a Maverick. Only big compromises are price and size when parking.
There is just too much baggage to overcome with Chrysler. The only reason to buy it is to gain entrance to the North American market which FCA then Stellantis did. Between they did it, the main reason was they got Jeep and pickups, which is the profit center and an entire dealer network as well as plants. If a Chinese company buys just the Chrysler name, they may get a plant, but Stellantis probably won't let them sell in their dealer network, so the'll have to start that from the ground up. Most of the NA market likes pickups and Suv/CUVs which Chrysler is weak with product history. So a Chinese company would need to start selling their products under a nameplate which is viewed apathetically by the homeland of the nameplate and wouldn't care one way or another if it disappeared with an untested dealer network.
Also why would Stellantis want to aid a competitor which they have every reason to keep out of the marketplace to steal their lunch.
The grandson buying the company would be an even worse situation where after buying the company, they have to spend billions developing several new products to sell in a new dealer network to keep alive a nameplate no one even cares about in the first place.
Stellantis would just be better off keeping Chrysler with badge engineered Opel, Peugeot or Citroen cars or just letting the brand disappear completely. I'd even consider replacing it with a European brand or even reviving AMC to sell a line of CUV's from Europe at this point.
I like the interior. The exterior is a different story. They are trying to mimic the Mach E's blacked out roof to make it look more sedan/CUV coupe-like. It is easily forgettable five minutes after you look at it. The Aria has better styling.
Space-wise, adding more vehicles to carry more people adds congestion at the curb and, to a lesser extent, on the road.
I'd expected an updated version of the TX4 London Taxi not a Honda CR-Z
I would also expect a naturally aspirated engine ends up powering the range-extender’s generator, not only because that’s what SD buyers prefer, but due to fuel economy as well. I wonder though if Ford uses an existing engine with relatively minor modifications, or whether we will see a significantly new engine variant. On one hand they could use a 5.0/5.2 V8 lightly modified to near-Atkinson operation, or they could introduce a new V8 variant of an existing engine with much longer stroke/bore ratio similar to most hybrid Atkinson engines.
Ford still has to manage the emission so highly unlikely it will go with throttle-less ICE. Just because it is not connected directly to transmission, doesn't mean it can operate in constant output mode. It can't be on/off operation because every time the engine starts, you have to deal with emission and varying the throttle is one of the tools Ford will need to control NOx emission.
Nano V6... who knows. But I suspect Ford is leaning towards naturally aspirated because Super Duty customers prefers it that way.
Transverse layout... why bother? That's a major engineering job for no reason. The V8 in longitude direction is already engineered for the chassis for crash safety and a whole host of other certifications and it will be easy to build in line with other variants. I doubt there is any NVH benefit to transverse mounting and there is probably significant downsize (added costs) to packaging. You will need unique engine accessories (chains, tensioners, water pump, gaskets, engine mounts etc.) just for this application. I'm sure Ford and its fleet customers would prefer to use the same parts as much as possible.
Looks like the 1.5Ecoboost hybrid drivetrain is also making its way into 2025 Equator. This will be the first time Equator will have a Ford engine and transmission.
Article is a few months old but is the latest news out there for 2025 Equator. Mid cycle refresh also happening... new front and rear facia.
https://www.autohome.com.cn/news/202407/1298191.html
It's a doorway into truck utility without having to pay the truck tax. I have a truck bed now, but I'm not getting 12 mpg or having to pay 2 grand for maintenance items every so often.