After two decades in which pickup trucks grew larger, heavier, and more expensive, automakers are testing whether American buyers will return to smaller, cheaper models. The interest has been sparked largely by the performance of Ford’s Maverick, a compact four-door pickup introduced in 2021 that sold about 155,000 units in 2025, according to Ford. That represented an 18% increase from the prior year.
The Maverick’s growth has helped compact pickups — a category that also includes Hyundai’s Santa Cruz — climb from 1% of all pickup sales in 2021 to 6.7% last year, according to data from car-shopping resource Edmunds. Still, the segment remains a fraction of what it once was. In 1986, automakers sold 1.4 million compact pickups in the U.S., more than half of all pickup sales that year, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2004. In 2025, the Maverick and Santa Cruz combined represented 180,550 of the 3.1 million pickups sold in the U.S., according to Motor Intelligence.
“There is a space at the bottom of the market for these smaller vehicles,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president of consulting firm AutoForecast Solutions.
A Ford spokesman said the fact that models like the Ranger and Chevrolet Colorado have grown larger over the years prompted the automaker to develop the Maverick. “It gives our customers options,” he said.
Several automakers are preparing to enter that space. Slate Auto, a startup backed by Jeff Bezos, plans to begin selling a roughly $25,000 all-electric pickup later this year that is smaller than a Toyota Corolla and starts at $24,950, according to The Wall Street Journal. The vehicle has two doors.
Ford plans to introduce its own electric pickup next year, a four-door model starting at $30,000, according to the Journal.
Ram, the pickup brand owned by Stellantis, aims to bring its compact Rampage model — currently sold in South America — to the U.S.
The interest extends to Toyota, which once sold a popular compact truck until it began upsizing its models over successive redesigns. Sam De La Garza, Toyota North America’s senior manager of truck product planning, said the company “can’t avoid looking at the Ford Mavericks and the Hyundai Santa Cruzes out there.” He noted that a two-door, two-seat version of the Tacoma still accounted for 4.5% of the truck’s sales last year. “It’s certainly something we wouldn’t want to walk away from,” De La Garza said.
Not everyone is convinced that a true small pickup can find a mass audience. Industry analysts point to a key obstacle: most consumers today want four full-size doors. Most pickups with two doors are either full-size or heavy-duty trucks, industry data shows.
Slate Auto’s pickup has only two doors. “Because this only does have two doors, I’m a little bit reserved about it being a huge hit among just the everyday consumer,” said Robby DeGraff, an analyst at the research firm AutoPacific.
Rich Klaben, a dealer with Ford and Jeep-Ram stores in Kent, Ohio, said he thinks there is still a market for a no-frills small pickup. Klaben recalled the Ford Ranger his family dealership sold in large numbers in the 1980s and 1990s. “If it’s cheap, there is going to be a buyer for it,” he said.
Ralph Caruso, 76, said he currently owns a 2008 Ford Ranger with an extended cab and small fold-up seats in the back. He bought it after an accident totaled an earlier Ranger. “Just something for human-size stuff that could go into normal situations without any drama,” Caruso said. “The old Ranger fit the bill perfectly.”
Klaben said he believes Ford has not produced enough Mavericks to meet demand, particularly for the fuel-efficient hybrid and lower-priced versions, which start around $29,000.