Ford builds two very different answers to the same question. What vehicle is the best compact utility vehicle on sale today? Same Engine, Same manufacturing plant. The Maverick Lobo is a lowered, street-tuned compact pickup with a 54.4-inch bed floor and standard All Wheel Drive behind a 250-horsepower 2.0L EcoBoost. The Bronco Sport Badlands is a boxy little SUV with an almost identical powertrain. It has a sealed cargo hold and a roofline tall enough to stand a duffel on end. Load them both for a Friday afternoon departure, and the differences are what make them both interesting to different shoppers.
The Maverick’s Bed Is Bigger Until It Rains
Nothing in the Bronco Sport matches what the Lobo's open bed will swallow. Muddy mountain bikes, a cooler that leaked on the last trip, four bags of mulch, a pair of paddleboards that would never clear the Bronco Sport's liftgate closure. Maybe a fridge standing upright you need to move up to the cabin? There is no load height ceiling in a pickup bed, which is the entire argument for a pickup, and the Lobo's 1,045-pound payload rating covers anything a weekend realistically produces.
Then the weather turns. An uncovered bed is a bathtub, and everything absorbent in it becomes a problem. The Bronco Sport answers with a fully enclosed and covered cargo area of about 30 cubic feet behind the rear seats. Fold the 60/40 rear bench, and it opens to over 60 cubic feet. That volume is climate-controlled, locked, and hidden from anyone walking past the trailhead lot by tinted glass and a cargo cover. The pickup gives you space. The SUV gives you protected space, and on a rainy July weekend in New England, that distinction decides which key you grab.
A Soft Cargo Bag Closes Most Of The Gap
We chose the Lobo for a weekend with a soft-sided waterproof cargo bag thrown into the bed. It changed the narrative. Our gear, which included a lot of items we’d rather not be soaked, came out dry after long miles of steady rain on Route 2. Wet and dirty gear can travel loose in the open bed, exactly where it belongs.
That combination is genuinely better than the Bronco Sport for one specific reason. The SUV forces you to choose between bringing the dirty oversized thing inside with the clean things or leaving it home. The Lobo lets you separate them. The tradeoff is honest, though. The bag costs money, takes five minutes to load and strap, needs to be dried out after it’s soaked, and has to live somewhere when it is empty. The Bronco Sport's liftgate is always there, always dry, and requires no ritual. Heck, you can even open just the back glass if you need one quick item off the top.
Under Seat Storage Goes To The Truck, Narrowly
Both the Bronco Sport and Maverick hide gear under the second row. The Bronco Sport Badlands has a compact second row under-seat compartment plus a genuinely useful cargo management system with a shelf and divider, along with MOLLE straps on the front seatbacks. It is well thought out, and it is small compared to big three-row SUVs.
The Maverick's rear seat cushion flips up against the seatback and exposes a flat, deep storage floor with molded bins. Recovery straps, tools, a tire inflator, and jumper cables all disappear under there and stay out of the weather without eating bed space. For gear you carry every trip but touch twice a year, the Lobo's under-seat area is the better locker. For small items you reach for constantly, the Bronco Sport's shelf and divider setup wins.
Rear Seat Room Is Closer Than You Think
The Bronco Sport gives rear passengers 36.9 inches of legroom and 41.7 inches of headroom, and that upright greenhouse makes the back seat feel airier than the numbers suggest. The Maverick's rear bench is competitive on legroom but sits lower, and the slightly sloped cab cuts headroom for taller passengers. Four adults fit in either one. Two adults and a couple kids plus their luggage fit better in the Bronco Sport, because the Lobo's cargo goes outside where it is hard to keep dry and safe while you all eat inside someplace.
Both Tow, Offering another Option
The Lobo is rated at 2,000 pounds of towed trailer and stuff. Properly equipped Bronco Sport trims reach 2,200 pounds. Think small utility trailer or a lightweight teardrop camper. Both handle that. Either one can haul a big volume of stuff on a trailer of your choosing, as long as it isn't very dense.
Pick the Lobo if your cargo is dirty, oversized, or both. Pick the Bronco Sport if it needs to stay dry and out of sight. Or, if you just have to have the truck, opt for a soft cargo bag or go all-in on a tonneau cover of some sort. Either one is way more useful than the size seems to hint at, and either is a lot easier to live with than a leviathan three-row family thruster.
Tell us in the comments which of these two top-selling compact utility vehicles you’d opt for and why in the comments section below.
About the Author:
John Goreham is a 14-year veteran of Torque News. An accomplished writer and a long-time expert in vehicle testing, Goreham also serves as the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and has a growing social media presence. He’s also a 10-year staff writer and community moderator for Car Talk. Goreham holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an undergraduate Certificate in Marketing. In addition to vehicle and tire content, he offers deep dives into market trends and opinion pieces. You can follow John Goreham on X and TikTok, and connect with him on LinkedIn.
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