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Bingo.

40k sales is supply and profit margin constrained. Ford reduced the number it imported from Spain after it lost the Chicken tax case on appeal. With local assembly, lower prices, and much bigger order guide to suit the fleets, sales will increase. The hybrid version will probably really dig into Toyota's dominance on the taxi fleet sale for example where Ford has basically withdrawn from the market. Also don't forget like Bronco Sport and Maverick, it is probably intended for sale in all of the Americas so production volume is going to be higher than how many Ford sold in the U.S. Also, it is basically just an alternate bodystyle of Maverick... even if it continued at 40k a year, that seems plenty to justify an alternate body style.

She comes off of Final Assembly this Thursday! If all goes as expected, it should be released to shipping Friday and arrive here by the end of next week. ? Hard to believe we're finally here!

Per Friday's FDNB (Fleet Distribution News Bulletin) below is the scheduling and production timetable for the 2021/2022MY Bronco. 09/03/2021 - 2021MY Fleet Final Order Date 09/23/2021 - 2021MY Last Day to Spec Change 12/10/2021 - 2021MY Balance Out Date 09/13/2021 - 2022MY Order Bank Open Date 10/14/2021 - 2022MY Scheduling Begins 12/13/2021 - 2022MY Job #1 Date

Per Friday's FDNB (Fleet Distribution News Bulletin) here's the production timetable for the 2021/2022MY Lincoln Navigator. 09/03/2021 - 2021MY Fleet Final Order Due Date 09/30/2021 - 2021MY Last Day to Spec Change 12/23/2021 - 2021MY Job Last Date 10/13/2021 - 2022MY Order Bank Open Date 11/18/2021 - 2022MY Scheduling Begins 01/18/2022 - 2022MY Job #1 Date

Yeah, I later realized that Ford would likely just re-use the Lightning for the electric variant of the Ranger, along with Lightning Pro for the commercial variant of electric Ranger as well. The Splash would make better use as a sporty trim for both Maverick and Ranger for the younger active lifestyle customers. Perhaps Ford will only use it only for Maverick though. I'm thinking more than just bright colors and pinstipe tapes though. We'll see.

Maybe a special trim for the Surf Board lifestyle activists and Water Sport activists in general. Get that surf board and/or water skis out onto your Splash.

Splash doesn't conjure up any image of tough electric truck though. Definitely not in the same league as Lightning.

I think you are really missing the context. Ford was importing the truck from overseas... there is no plants to close in the US. Also, Ford was the one that originally asked for the tax so it can't have it both ways. It benefited from having very little foreign competition on vans so now it is the one doing the importing, it has to play by the rules it asked for.

fingers crossed for you brother....

BIG media event in Austin all week. We'll see snip-its like this over the next several days. I believe full reviews are embargoed until next Monday when they'll likely highlight the first customer deliveries taking place.

You got that right, especially racing engines. You Tube has a whole series of best racing engines of all time and it's mostly about sound. Still very important in performance vehicles like Mustang V8, Camaro, Porsche, and so on. When I've gone to racing events, sound is as important as the racing. F1 racing suffered a bit during this hybrid/turbo era with loss of high pitched sounds of V8/V12 era. Still remember going to F1 race every year in Downtown Detroit and listening to Cosworth V8 sounds. The turbo era had already started with their muzzled sounds, but the V8 Cosworth was still around in the mid 80's with its glorious sound. Now fast forward to FE racing and most race cars use muffled hybrid/turbo engines. Porsche Cup Cars still sound glorious along with Indy Cars for now before they go to hybrid/turbo in couple years. Wonder how many more years left. Maybe that's why vintage racing is so popular. As modern racing loses its glorious sounds, vintage racing will pick up the slack. Just as vintage cars at Mecum and Barret Jackson become more popular every year. There will always be a market for these machines as market turns to 100% hybrid/electric.

Not that you care ... but this is an example of why I ask for more info than just your dealer code and order number. Your salesperson has 12 orders in the system with that order number combination. Fortunately there is only 1 Escape right now so I assume that is yours. 2021 Escape - VIN 1FMCU0LZ3MUA86393 Scheduled to Week (Week -of Aug-16-2021)

You’re confusing Transit with ProMaster. Transit is superior in almost every way except price and yet ProMaster hangs in there every month in sales.

I apologise in advance if this sounds condescending, You don’t understand the origins of this project or the evolution of C1 to C2 because if you did, you would realise that the base engineering modules were developed first with C2 weight reductions and provision for hybrid batteries baked in to the van modules that were then adapted for use in Maverick and the cancelled SUV, the van is probably the easiest of the three to do. It’s similar to Gen 2 T6 in that Bronco went first but all the engineering for Ranger and and Everest is still in place, it’s s the same deal for Transit Connect going from C1 to C2, most of the work is either carry over or already done in the early stages. Hermosillo can turn out up to 350k in a year on three shifts and one body plant, there’s still provision to work weekends if needed…

I see this trim as being more suitable for the Maverick than anything else. That is the vehicle meant to appeal to younger active lifestyle buyers.

sorry to pop bubbles, but ANYTHING on a dealers lot right now is most likely at or above MSRP due to significant shortages...and the light isn't even visible at the end of the tunnel right now.....we usually carry 450 - 500 cars, we are down to less than 40 and vehicles are being presold PRIOR to them even being produced at the Factory...absolutely NUTS right now. Never seen this in 36 years in the business....

I do think a big key here is fuel economy, because that is a concern with smaller cars - if someone can go buy a Maverick that gets the same or better fuel economy as a Civic, I know I'd rather have a truck than a little car.

Your scheduled production week hasn't changed. The information in this thread applies to unscheduled orders only!

10 years is not a plan... it is Stellantis waving the white flag at European nationalism and deciding to do nothing. This is the same problem Sergio had with Fiat and he couldn't fix it so he merged the problem with Chrysler. And PSA has the same problem after it took over Opel and so they "fix" it by merging with FCA and kick the can down the road. But this is truly a case of 2+2=5 kind of problem... it gets bigger and more difficult to solve. First, the problem is strictly an European one. Stellantis doesn't have an issue with overlapping brands in North America. It operates only two dealer networks here: Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram and Alfa Romeo/Maserati. And there is very little product overlap... e.g. there is no Ram sedan or Alfa Romeo pickup trucks, and there is no Chrysler SUV or Jeep minivan so Stellantis is not wasting money duplicating 4 identical cars. Fiat is the only redundant brand here and it is on the way out. Now let's go to Europe and unpack the problem. Stellantis has 4 mainstream brands: Peugeot, Citroen, Opel/Vauxhall, and Fiat. Vauxhall is not a "brand" per se because it is just British Opel - it doesn't have any unique models so no need to think of it as something separate. With 4 mainstream brands, you see the real problem here - they are designing and selling 4 of the same cars in each segment and they are competing with each other rather than with Ford, VW, Renault, Toyota, and Hyundai. If this reminds you of GM in North America before the bankruptcy, well, it is because that is what's happening. The mainstream market in Europe is shrinking... there is no room for 4 brands from one manufacturer. Ford has one, VW has two (VW and SEAT) with one being regionally focused in southern Europe, Hyundai has two, and Renault-Nissan has two. Logically, you would downgrade one of the 4 mass market brands to a budget brand, and focus on the strongest remaining mass market brand and leave the other two as niche special/regional brands. The problem gets dicey because French chauvinism and Italian obstructionism inevitably get in the way. For example, there is no political outcome that is possible for Stellantis to downgrade Peugeot's role as the main brand for the group even though you can make a pretty good argument that Opel/Vauxhall is better suited as the stronger mainstream brand to maintain/build up because Germany and UK are still two largest market in Europe. So let's go with the fact that Peugeot is untouchable and try to figure out what to do with the rest. Opel/Vauxhall had a clear identity before GM sold it to PSA - it was a mainstream brand competing with Ford, VW, Toyota, Hyundai, and ahem... Peugeot. Under PSA, the plan was to change Opel/Vauxhall into a "green" car brand focused on hybrid and EV. The problem is PSA didn't anticipate EU to bring out the ban hammer so soon on diesel which is a core Peugeot brand attribute... so now every brand in Europe is a "green" car brand focused on hybrid and EV. So Opel/Vauxhall will need a new identity. Stellantis is basically saying we are not going to try... in 10 years, it will be someone else's problem. Citroen made sense when it was part of PSA: Peugeot for the masses and Citroen for people who think handlebar mustache is ok. But then PSA took all the fun out of Citroen when they separated DS sub-brand from Citrone and things make even less sense now with Citroen as part of Stellantis competing with not just Peugeot but also Opel and Fiat. For Citroen to carve out a niche, Stellantis needs to let it be weird Citroen again and that means reabsorbing DS and make that part of Citroen. Fiat is now known in Europe as a brand that sells Panda, 500 and vans. So logically, this one should be downgraded from mainstream market to the budget segment to focus on small and affordable cars. Like Renault's Dacia or VW's Skoda. But good luck convincing the Italians still in Stellantis that they should take a back seat to Peugeot and Opel. Now onto the supposed "premium" brands... the only real one here is Maserati and Stellantis wants it to compete with Porsche. Fine idea as long as product execution is up to snuff. Alfa Romeo is a bit of a problem child. It was never a luxury brand until Sergio said it is and everyone just had to play along pretending the Alfa doesn't make its living selling cheap FWD hatchbacks in Europe and historically was a competitor to Fiat, not a premium brand above it. For most of its history, Alfa Romeo was kind of like Mazda today... mainstream brand but with a strong bend towards fun to drive cars. Until Fiat took over Alfa, the two brands were fierce rivals in Italy and Alfa was a mainstream brand that sold commercial vans and even buses that competed with IVECO. So the current reimaging of Alfa as an Audi and BMW competitor is coming up short but there is not a lot of alternatives. Alfa cannot go back to being a mainstream brand so it has to keep pretending it is a luxury brand. DS and Lancia are both complete mess and should be abandoned. DS was originally a sub-brand of Citroen focused on avant garde styling. It was never supposed to be a luxury brand but PSA was desperate for a luxury option to compete with VW Group so they separate it from Citrone and tried to tell everyone this is a luxury brand. Except everyone can see that it is just fancy Citroen. With Alfa Romeo and Maserati in the stable now, DS has no purpose but French chauvinism means it will be kept around. For no reason. Lancia was a real luxury car brand that slot in above Fiat for most of its history. But Sergio deliberately starved the brand because Alfa Romeo was his passion project. Lancia is so damaged (selling only 1 car in Italy and nowhere else) that it is really beyond salvage. Not many people under 50 even knows this brand exist and the few that knew, probably associate it with Delta and the mid 80s when Lancia was a force in the Group A and Group B rally racing competing with Audi. It's a good story but hard to contextualize in the current market place. Even Audi doesn't talk about its rally pedigree very much and AWD is core to Audi's brand.

2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E RWD First Test: A Very Cool Electric Pony (motortrend.com)