I personally believe they should stick with that gen 1 inspiration, but just play with the surfaces, details, and proportions. 

Battling Jeep and Ram and fighting with GM on full sized isn’t a bad idea; those are two incredibly durable brands in America despite the utter incompetence of their management. It also fits Ford’s core competencies well, that’s 1 million sales per year in incredibly profitable segments to pick up without much competition. UEV and the other products mentioned like the Maverick SUV further help Ford avoid the sort of Dutch Disease Jeep and Ram constantly suffer from.

We've known the timeline, but I think this is the first we've heard the program code number.   It'll be interesting to see where they go design-wise.  While obviously not easy to do right, borrowing the styling elements from the original was an "easy" start point.  I don't see them looking at the larger 2nd gen for inspiration (just a box with square everything).  I guess the question is how close do they stay to the more retro look vs. modernizing it.....

From today's Autoline Daily, via Forecast Solutions:   We’ve got some important new product intel, thanks to our friends at Autoforecast Solutions. The Chrysler Airflow, a new mid-sized CUV codenamed C4U, will be built at the Belvidere assembly plant in Illinois. Next up, the new version of the Chevrolet Equinox EV is scheduled to go into production in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico in February, 2029. It moves off the BEV3 platform onto a new one code-named BEV-N. And a new Ford Bronco will come on line in January, 2030. It stays on the same platform, but the program code-name changes to U-825. And it will continue to be made at Ford’s Michigan Assembly plant.

Look it's the new Mustang sedan:      Custom 1966 Ford Mustang Limousine Up For Auction  

Mustang sedan on the current platform.     So Maverick van was on, then off, then on again, and now off again?  Typical Ford............but I guess if they're brining the Custom over, that'll fill that gap?   I agree that Cuatitlan could use another product - never made sense to me to have it Mach-E only.   I think I'd suggested it become another C2 plant in the past, as long as it can handle both powertrain types if they're keeping Mach-E around for a while.   What does scale back a full redesign mean?  You'd think Explorer (and Aviator) would get good attention because it's a segment they lead, but seems like complacency wins again........they see rising sales of Explorer because they dropped everything else, and think they're good.....

Hopefully the explorer updates address quality issues as well. We’ve had so many recalls on our last two explorers that my wife doesn’t want to buy another ford. I don’t really care about this new truck EV, but I’m excited to see what the next BS, escape, corsair, and maverick suv are like. Mustang 4-dr sounds cool but I’m not looking for a car. Still really interested in the bronco truck.  

Most of this is accurate. The Maverick based small van was indeed cancelled earlier this year. The C2 “Maverick SUV” is still moving forward as far as I know. I don’t know where the next gen Bronco Sport is going with the Valencia change. I have heard the Mach-E could get a “roommate” at that plant because it’s so underutilized. Another C2 plant is needed.   Yes, the Explorer and Aviator will be getting major upgrades for MY30 but they did scale back the full redesign. It’s incredibly frustrating to witness the constant second guessing and market chasing going on. Ford only leads with trucks at this time. We follow everyone else with the remainder of the lineup. Meanwhile Hyundai and Kia are constantly rolling out new product and are never looking back.

Interesting. Of those, actual galvanic corrosion seems least likely unless there's a tiny steel strip at the very tip of the hoods. Which I'm going to go check with a magnet right meow.   Aaand, I'm disappointed, I was really hoping for a steel strip in the leading edge.  Magnet didn't catch on anything on the front lip at all.   Back to iron and/or paint contamination. Little micro-particles makes sense, in a factory setting, in THESE factories, it makes total sense.

I think it's got to be done by a Ford rep. A dealer can request a higher priority, we can even put in "01" as the priority, but Ford's system will reassign whatever number it wants. It might keep that, it might not.   Anything with a 5.0 right now is tough. Don't think it showed up in a specific commodity list, but I thought I heard the 5.0 plus Tow/Haul is bogging down, which makes no sense. Half the time, what goes on that list you can look at and just go "Wait, what? That makes no sense. Why would those things combined cause an issue?".