10 Biggest News Stories of the Week: Ford Maverick Is Too Much Truck for Honda CR-V

We might hear an awful lot about SUVs being the hottest-selling types of vehicles on the market, but a quick survey of the hard numbers on pickup truck sales will quickly put that notion to bed. The top five bestselling pickup trucks in 2022 alone totaled more than 2.1 million of the nearly 14 million vehicles sold during the year, according to Automotive News — translating to about 1 out of every 6 new vehicles. The top three spots on the year-end sales list are predictably dominated by Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado and Ram pickups. And guess what? The No. 4 pickup truck isn’t even close to reaching third place overall. This is all the long way of saying Americans love trucks.

Related: 10 Biggest News Stories of the Month: Ford F-150, Jeep Gladiator Get Shown Up by Nissan Rogue

And because there’s a better-than-reasonable chance you may well be considering your first pickup purchase as you read this, our experts have taken some of the payload off your plate in terms of helping you determine what type of truck you need. In Cars.com’s most popular article of the past week, we break down the potentially daunting truck landscape into pickup purpose (budget-friendliness, light and heavy towing, luxury, off-roading, family duty and urban driving); size (compact, mid-size and full-size); drive wheels (two-wheel drive, four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive); and fuel type (gas, diesel, hybrid and all-electric). That’s in addition to a glossary to translate truck jargon like axle ratio and CrewMax cab to demystify those specs sheets for you, among tons more advice.

Shoppers looking for the most bang for their buck (and who isn’t?) should check out the 2024 Ford Maverick. It starts at a bargain price of $24,995 including destination, and whether you opt for the standard turbocharged 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine or pony up a fair $1,500 premium for the hybrid powertrain on all but the top trim level, you’ll get an eager-to-accelerate, yet impressively fuel-efficient pickup with between 2,000 and 4,000 pounds of towing capacity and other trucky traits.

For the full list of our purpose-driven model recos and other shopping advice, follow the link below to Cars.com’s Pickup Truck Buying Guide, the No. 1 article of the week.

Trailing our truck guide is another one of the most popular vehicles on the market, the Honda CR-V. Back for the 2024 model year virtually unchanged, save for a new second-from-the-top Sport-L trim level, our official recommendation is that most buyers opt for an outgoing 2023 version of the compact SUV, if possible, as the price will be lower for the exact same vehicle. If you simply must have the latest thing — even if the distinction is only meaningful on your Monroney sticker — you can expect to pay $30,795 for the base LX trim (including a $1,295 destination charge) and level up through the six trims to $37,645 for the all new Sport-L and $40,795 for the range-topping Sport Touring model.

For full details on the 2024 Honda CR-V and further context on our recommendation as to which model year you should buy, follow the link below to the No. 3 news story on this week’s countdown of most read articles.

Beyond that, we have headlines on the Mini Countryman, Toyota RAV4, Porsche Cayenne, Toyota Highlander Hybrid and much more — so don’t stop reading till the digits double. Here are the top 10 news stories Cars.com readers couldn’t get enough of in the past week:

1. Pickup Truck Buying Guide: How Much Truck Do You Need?

2. Here Are the 11 Cheapest Electric Vehicles You Can Buy

3. Honda CR-V: Which Should You Buy, 2023 or 2024?

4. 2023 Mini Cooper S Countryman Review: Untamed Melody

5. How Often Should You Change the Engine Air Filter?

6. Electric Cars With the Longest Range

7. Compact Steamroller: 2024 Toyota RAV4 Starts at $29,825

8. Is the 2024 Porsche Cayenne S a Good SUV? 4 Pros and 3 Cons

9. Do You Really Need to Change Your Oil Every 3,000 Miles?

10. 2024 Toyota Highlander Hybrid Gets Darker With Nightshade Edition

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