New entry-level ute from the Blue Oval has been leaked ahead of official unveil.

What appears to be an image of Ford’s new ‘Maverick’ ute on the assembly line has been leaked by the Maverick Truck Club forum.

This is the new ute Ford has been talking about for the past two years, though as it moves closer to an expected launch in 2022, we are now beginning to see what it will look like.

Positioned underneath the Ranger in both size and price, the Maverick is a unibody utility vehicle based on the Ford Compact Car Platform that also underpins the Ford Focus and Ford Bronco Sport, the latter not sold here.

As we can see, the new ute appears to adopt a stylized version of the next-generation Ford Ranger fascia, with u-shaped LED headlights and a small ‘truck’ like appearance. The bed appears to be one-piece with the body and as the vehicle and details have not been confirmed by Ford, it’s impossible to know the specs of what we are looking at.

However, based on the Compact Car Platform, it will likely house a four-cylinder engine and perhaps offer up a turbocharged three-cylinder, with both front and all-wheel drivelines potentially available.

An earlier leaked photo also shows the tailgate, with big ‘MAVERICK’ letting across it, suggesting that this is indeed the name Ford will use. Ford Maverick is a nameplate once sold in Australia as a four-wheel-drive wagon based on the Nissan Patrol GQ.

While the Ranger is available in Australia, it is unknown if the Maverick would make it’s way down here. The Focus is currently sold down under but it is the German-made product; this photo comes, allegedly, from Ford’s Hermosillo plant in Mexico, meaning the Maverick, like the Bronco, might not be made for us.