I'm sure Cologne will be closed when Ford switches to rebadged Renault EV instead of building its own VW MEB. Cologne has the same problem as Saarlouis... German union and wages (note: this is not an anti-union rant... I'm just trying to explain why Ford is angling to do a deal in Spain instead of Germany). Also quite possible Ford has some kind of covenant in the VW agreement that restrict them from building something else besides MEB at Cologne.    Valencia has enough capacity to contract build Geely EVs but Geely is only interested in something like this because of political expediency and taking advantage of Ford's weak bargaining position. A lot of European countries are starting to worry about Chinese auto industry wiping out their own so a big splashy investment by Chinese OEM to build cars in EU's traditional car building countries could backfire. Having Ford build your car and saving Spanish jobs from being cut is much better press. Geely could also just build its Zeekr cars at Volvo plants instead but that has its own problem because the high costs of building cars in Sweden.   There is no way Geely will enter into an agreement like this without a call option to buy the plant from Ford at some future point. Remember Ford was actively hoping to sell Saarlouis to BYD before that deal fell apart because BYD didn't want to deal with German unions and high German wages. Spain on the other hand, is a lot more attractive. This is why the deal is around Valencia not Cologne.       

Looks like F-53 stripped chassis was discontinued after 2024....only one on Ford Pro is F-59 stripped....the F-59, however, uses the 7.3L/6R combo according to the Ford Pro site.    Update: According to Google, Ford still makes the F-53...but it is not on the Ford Pro site. 

It'a Captcha image: "Select the pictures which have shoulders."

The 650 and 750 6.7L Powerstroke trucks use the 10R, but the 7.3L gasoline versions use the 6R.  I think the F53 stripped chassis may also use the 6R with gas engines.   I really wish the 6R140 was available with the 7.3L or 6.8L gasoline engines in the 250 and 350.

All the sleuthing here is great fun! 😁

I could be wrong, but I'm seeing it without the front casting. Green=firewall, blue=bottom of windshield, red=a pillar, yellow=door. 

Ahhh, interesting.  I thought the MDs had switched over to the 10R as well.

This article suggests Jimbo is doin' a smoke and mirrors act:   https://www.autoevolution.com/news/jim-farley-rehashes-old-content-to-pretend-ford-is-making-progress-with-the-30000-truck-265236.html  

I wonder how close it'll be in terms of looks and proportion to this Toyota. This is an example of how you can make a short hood still look really nice. If it was virtually identical to this, I'd be perfectly happy.   This is like a best case scenario for how a short hood, small, lifestyle truck could look imo. 

If they can get the weight, size, and cost down, I believe Ford should just move the next gen couple and sedan over to cd6. It's obvious a lot more modern of a platform, it's more flexible, it can accommodate hybrid and AWD tech, and so on.