Compare a '90s F-150 to a 2024 Ranger. Then compare a '90s Ranger to a 2024 Maverick. Arguably, what Ford really did was that it added a third, bigger-than-full-size, truck and shifted the names one notch up.
The Maverick is new and while it does buck the trend of “bigger is always better”, all it signifies to me is that Ford are diversifying their range of pickups now that they don’t make any small cars or sedans in the US any more, which is kind of emblematic of the whole problem.
As opposed to now, where I have to do a double take whenever I see a modern single cab. AFAIK, they are now special order and some models don’t even offer them.
That’s not an average representation of the increase in the size of pickup trucks, though.
Just look at the Ford F150:
Even if you compare like with like, pickups are around 30% heavier than they were in the 90s, and around 10-15% taller.
https://www.axios.com/2023/01/23/pickup-trucks-f150-size-weight-safety
Nah the actual space you can use shrunk while the truck got bigger. That’s insane
Compare a '90s F-150 to a 2024 Ranger. Then compare a '90s Ranger to a 2024 Maverick. Arguably, what Ford really did was that it added a third, bigger-than-full-size, truck and shifted the names one notch up.
The Maverick is new and while it does buck the trend of “bigger is always better”, all it signifies to me is that Ford are diversifying their range of pickups now that they don’t make any small cars or sedans in the US any more, which is kind of emblematic of the whole problem.
That’s a good point.
That’s comparing a regular can with a crew cab.
They didn’t have crew cabs back then, which is kinda the point.
Edit: correction - they did, but it wasn’t until the mid-2000s that they became common.
As opposed to now, where I have to do a double take whenever I see a modern single cab. AFAIK, they are now special order and some models don’t even offer them.