2022 Ford Maverick vs 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500

Ford pickup trucks are Canada’s best-sellers, but that doesn’t mean the Blue Oval is satisfied. The 2022 Ford Maverick aims to further expand the market by offering a more approachable version of the pickup. The Maverick is the smallest Ford truck in over a decade, uses car-like unibody construction for greater refinement, and emphasizes fuel efficiency with a standard hybrid powertrain.

The all-new Maverick’s closest rivals are the 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz and the Honda Ridgeline, other unibody pickups of similar size. But while the new Santa Cruz was conceived more as an SUV with a bed, the Maverick is more like a conventional pickup, just smaller than Ford’s other offerings.

The Maverick slots just below the Ford Ranger in size, although it’s still a bit larger than the compact pickups of old. With the demise of the EcoSport crossover, the Maverick is also now Ford’s de facto entry-level vehicle, which seems fitting for a company whose bestselling product is the F-150. Ford isn’t really a car company; it’s a truck company.

While the Ford F-150 is available in a dizzying array of configurations, the automaker kept things simple with the 2022 Maverick. The new Ford pickup is available in just three trim levels—XL, XLT, and Lariat—with a single bed length and cab configuration. At Ford’s invitation, we sampled the full lineup over two days.

There was once a time when we expected less out of specialized vehicles. Cars were for families, trucks were for the work sites, and SUVs were for hunting lodges. That concept left decades ago. Today, we expect our vehicles to do it all. There’s no better example of this than in the full-size truck market. These are incredibly capable, powerful vehicles that are also expected to be reliable, comfortable commuting vehicles that have the latest in-car and infotainment technology.

The 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is in a tough spot. The big pickup has the work-truck credentials covered, but it has some stiff competition in the refinement department. A critical update to address these issues arrived for the 2022 model year. While the exterior updates were subtle, the big changes came inside the cabin. For 2023, the Chevy Silverado 1500 receives power upgrades for the optional Duramax diesel engine. A new Silverado ZR2 Bison off-road configuration is available as well. But the real work to keep the Silverado relevant came in 2022 with those interior updates. Read on to learn if those changes are enough to keep the Silverado 1500 competitive in the perpetually evolving full-size pickup truck market.