To give credit where credit is due, the ~$25k Ford Maverick was a decent step towards "enough" vehicle for many people, while minimizing cost.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a64351746/2025-ford-mav...
And definitely went the other way from the industry.
That's a supply:demand problem that will normalize in the long run though. Ford hedges their bets by not producing something risky at full-tilt; dealers maximize their profitability with an in demand model. (Especially since they're not making the absolute markup by selling full-loaded F150s at higher price points)
The 2.0 doesn't have the problems that the 2.3 Ecoboost has. The '25 model has port injection added to deal with carbonization.
Yeah, except dealers ruined it. I wanted to buy one but every single dealership had them at $10k over MSRP.