A four-door sedan on a 109.9-inch (2.791 m) wheelbase was introduced for 1971. Initially available only as a two-door sedan, early models lacked a glove compartment, which was added during the model year 1973 (early 1973 models still lacked a glove compartment). Its production in 1975 with the release of the Granada as a more European-style luxury compact (the Granada and Maverick shared the same basic chassis). Jumping gas prices and increasing demand for smaller cars resulting from the 1973 oil crisis caused the Maverick to grow in popularity. Total North American Maverick production (1969-1977) reached 2.1 million units. Nearly 579,000 Mavericks were produced in its first year, approaching the record-setting first year of Mustang sales (nearly 619,000), and easily outpaced the Mustang's sales of fewer than 200,000 in 1970. The Maverick's styling featured the long hood, fastback roof, and short deck popularized by the Mustang, on a 103-inch (2,616 mm) wheelbase - and featured pop-out rear side windows.

A bigger Falcon was a rebranded low-trim version of the Fairlane for the second half of the model year, then went away. Consequently, the Falcon was discontinued midway through the 1970 model year, and the Maverick repositioned as Ford's compact entry, giving the Nova and Dart a new rival. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration motor-vehicle standards that would come into effect on January 1, 1970. The Falcon, Ford's compact offering since 1960 and main rival to the Chevrolet Nova and Dodge Dart, had seen its sales decimated by the introduction of the Mustang in 1964, and despite a redesign in 1966, was unable to meet the then forthcoming U.S. It was originally conceived and marketed as a subcompact 'import fighter', intended to compete against the newer Japanese rivals for North America, then primarily from Datsun and Toyota.

The Maverick was introduced on April 17, 1969, as a 1970 model at a very competitive price point of $1,995. The name ' maverick' was derived from the word for unbranded range animals, and the car's nameplate was stylized to resemble the head of Longhorn cattle. The Maverick was also manufactured in Venezuela, Canada, Mexico, and from 1970 to 1979, in Brazil. The Ford Maverick is a compact car manufactured and marketed by Ford for model years 1970–1977 in the United States, originally as a two-door sedan employing a rear-wheel drive platform original to the 1960 Falcon - and subsequently as a four-door sedan on the same platform.

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