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The new Acura "Infiniti Edition" ...coming soon to an Auto Mall near you.

It’s such an odd thing to have as dealer installed. I don’t know I’d trust my dealer to do it. All of my cars have it, and I use it frequently.

My dad had a business partner he worked with a lot in the 80s and he told my dad all the time he was going to buy 2 Yugos one for each foot

Including useful features that add value at little or no cost through good engineering should also help improve sales. One example is 2025 Maverick Hybrid AWD being flat towable as reported by Ford Authority. Probably won’t make a huge difference, but motorhome owners prefer flat towing when possible, and also light weight. Maverick Hybrid in both FWD and AWD can meet that need. Another Ford decision that should help sales is exporting Transit Custom PHEV to Australia. I wish Ford could import Custom PHEV to North America. On flip side Ford Authority also reports Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis beat Ford in providing electric vehicles with integrated NACS connector so adaptors are not required at Tesla Superchargers. Direct connector may be a small difference but every bit helps, and begs the question of why Ford couldn’t make update as quickly as Hyundai.

Not only is level 3 not needed, public charging on a PHEV isn’t really needed. You just keep driving on gas until you get home.

I haven’t carried keys since I got my Mach-E (unless using my wife or sons cars). If they want to get rid of it (build complexity etc) then get rid of it. Building every car with 90% of what it takes to make it work is crazy. Anyone can use the keypad. I leave my sunglasses in my son’s car? He can unlock my truck and leave them in it. We get out of meetings at separate times, but drove together? He can let himself in my truck. If I were to lose/break my phone, or the battery dies the keypad lets me drive still. Phone as Key really makes the keypad more valuable, not less. There are days where I use the keypad on both our Maverick and Edge - for instance when swapping out the insurance cards. Lack of a keypad, or lack of capless fuel filler (another “Ford thing” isn’t going to keep me from buying a Ford, but it is something that might keep me from buying another brand.

One example I used was when I lived in RI I was on a recreation softball team and our uniforms didn't have pockets. I didn't want to carry my phone or my wallet so I locked everything into my Lincoln LS that I had at the time and when we were done playing all I had to do was punch my code in and get all my stuff.

Perhaps Lincoln sales would be even better but for the China factor. I concede there are people who could care less or are oblivious to the fact that the Nautilus is made there, but I am certain there are people like me who do pay attention and it has caused the Nautilus to be dismissed from consideration. It’s unfortunate, because the Nautilus is the size of vehicle my wife is considering for her next vehicle. It’s not even that I believe China can’t effectively build the Nautilus, as the iPhone that I type this on sufficiently shows, but it’s that I want to do as much as I can minimize anything that might benefit China. Sadly it is unrealistic for it to be a zero sum game, but I try to do my part. Also consider availability issues. Have their been lost sales due to long lead times or lack of available units on lots.

Remember the One Lap Of America LS? Lincoln engineers shoehorned a supercharged Roush v8 into a LS. When was the last time you tried putting a car on your expense report? Hey, it worked for these guys—Chet Dhruna (left), Jamie Venezia (middle), and Matt List, a trio of Lincoln engineers who stuffed a 390-hp, 4.6-liter Roush V-8 into a Lincoln LS to run this year's One Lap. It looked like a promising setup, and cooler still, it had the blessing of the boss. Unfortunately, the hot-rod Lincoln ventilated its engine block in its first run at Heartland Park. The boys phoned home, and the boss, Ned Nuss, told them to find a way to finish, then helped them implement his mandate with some online research. The solution was a $15,000 '03 Ford Crown Victoria, which the trio split three ways on their corporate credit cards. Swapping engines and getting the supercharger hardware attached took about 11 hours, and by 5 a.m. the next morning, the Lincoln was on its way to Pikes Peak. The body of the Crown Vic donor car will be used by Ford R&D

Not any longer. Ever since Carlos Ghosn left, Nissans have been incrementally rising in prices. The Rogue is now as pricey as a RAV4, comparably equipped. It has had MAJOR issues with the 3-cylinder introed for the '22 model year and I am not convinced those issues are fixed yet. Its CVTs are for the most part, not an issue any longer.

Borg was speculating this feature was gone from the new Nautilus and Navigator but I saw some pics recently someone posted in the "Everything Lincoln" group on facebook of a new Navigator at a dealership and the front door was open and you could see the keypad lit up. I really hope Ford never removes this feature it's a really nice backup to have.

Appears to be a wired one. https://www.fordservicecontent.dealerconnection.com/Ford_Content/Catalog/accessory_files/2025_CMY_F150_Super_Duty_Keyless_Entry_Keypad.pdf HRG

And you would have to be a glutton for punishment (or a climate zealot) to wait 2-3 hours at a public charger to gain ~30-50 miles of EV driving. Almost all PHEVs are limited to either level 1 or level 2 charging.

A lot of that was Farley trying to trot out interesting product for dealers to talk about. At the time he was getting his ass roasted over million dollar EV upgrades. Fast forward to December 2024 and XLT Lightning available with 0% 72 month finance plus $4,500 cash and free home charger… and there are so many Lightnings sitting unsold that production was first cut to one shift and then stopped until the new year..

The biggest culture issue Ford has is it keeps thinking that outsourcing is lower cost. How many times do they have to get burned before they learn….

An additional body style / configuration (4-door) plus a possible high end Lincoln variant would add volume (if approved).

My '25 Navigator is the same date. I ordered it on the 1st day. I like you was expecting it to be sooner given production was supposed to be starting on 1/6.

Good thing they don’t have Ford big shots on the skunkworks team. That’s why Farley brought in outsiders from Tesla, Rivian and other tech companies.

Hasn't Ford's plan changed at least twice since then? 😛