rmc523

I'm not against "after the fact" upgrades, in fact I like the idea of that. I.e. Maybe you can't afford software-based feature X when car shopping, so you don't order it/get it on your vehicle at purchase. Then in another year you have an extra $500 laying around and want to buy feature X now - and once you purchase it, your car has it from then on. That setup would be great. That arrangement would still be an after-purchase revenue stream for Ford, but also adds value to the customer - both in their own usage and in resale value (i.e., here's my documentation that feature X was added after purchase). What I'm against is a monthly subscription model for features. Seemingly everything is going this way. And for some things like streaming services, it's ok...people don't buy movies anymore, and you'd never have access to the thousands of titles otherwise. But I don't want to lose a feature on my vehicle because I don't want to pay per month (PPM) for feature X for 5-10 years (however long I keep it). IIRC, they have Blue Cruise as a PPM feature after a trial period. I'd want to use it, but wouldn't want to pay continually for it. Sure you could get it for a month when you go on a trip (assuming you can activate and deactivate month to month like streaming services), but then you don't get to use it other times if it's not active.

I really think this subscription BS is terrible, and I hope Ford doesn't do it.

something new doesn't just appear at the snap of a finger. And Ford/others cant just sit around and wait for it while everyone passes them.

Whoops. Well regardless, MEB was small and something else was large. And....based on that, VW itself is throwing MEB away lol.

Every single one of those electric scooters in south Florida were removed years ago with no signs of returning. All local governments banned them because people left them anywhere and everywhere - middle of the road? Check, tipped over on the sidewalk? check, ocean? check, canals? check. A press release can say anything. If they pulled out of the venture, it wasn't worth it.

1) those wheels are atrocious 2) I both like it and don't......it reminds me of a "generic SUV" from video games. 3) The interior does look nice. 4) Where are everyone's legs supposed to go when those 2nd row seats are sun around backward?

well, 2 things: 1) Ford has BS/Escape/Corsair/Maverick to replace, not including potential for a potential TC replacement. So they’ll need something capable of underpinning compact products even if sedans or hatches never reappear 2) VW’s MEB platform I think is for compact products only (I believe the version for larger products is called MQB), so if Ford is looking at replacing it with their own platform, it’d have to at least be capable of underpinning compacts - especially since Ford’s use of MEB is/was primarily focused on the European market where smaller/compact vehicles which make up the core part of the market there.

Why? If it were a venture worth investing in, they’d have kept it

Yeah, that's true. Agreed on dumping MEB if they have their own that they want global volume on.

While I do agree that I prefer more integrated screens, I'd say the digital cluster was one of my favorite things about my Mustang. I know I'm younger than you and some others here, so my preferences are different. I recently got in a friend's Mustang rental with the regular cluster, and it looked sad and dated with that setup vs. what mine had. That said, I haven't sat in the new one, so I can't say how it is sitting in it.

I wasn't sure where to put this, but this seems like it may be the best place.... From a Ford Authority article today....VW's CEO seems to think Ford-VW's tie up is growing, not shrinking as all other indications have been....

I did a BMW M Driving School last year, and all of the things were fun - running around the race track, etc. BUt I really did enjoy the drifting aspect of it around their loop!

What world are you living in that you think buyers would go for optional A/C today? lol

Depends if you believe Borg or not....

I like that lower/silver version.