And if the pan with CE1 doesn’t work, Ford will have a contingent hybrid to EREV plan ready to roll out before 2028. It will take the learning from CE1 and apply them to its ICE based vehicles to reduce costs while making more efficient vehicles. Im waiting for another shoe to drop at Oakville, Ford is treading water with SD plan but don’t be surprised if this changes again given the Canada-USA trade issues. Production volume and costs means that the business plan won’t work but is it now too late to change again?        

Volume is still small enough (as well as profits) that it won’t be a huge problem.  What matters is that they nail them when they do get them to market.   What is far more of a problem is Ford’s lack of hybrid crossovers over the next 2-3 years.

Different market, different buyers, different economics.

What competition? ? 😎

2028 should be a new gen. If it is just another facelift, it will fall behind the competition for sure. 

My guess is the delay was due to strong demands for Bronco Sport and Maverick which means Ford didn't need the van volume to maintain production efficiency.   2028 timing also suggest it maybe based on the next gen C2 instead of current gen. Bronco Sport Mk2 should be out by that time as well.       

In all fairness, the Western Star deal included their plant in Kelowna B.C. and Orion Bus with their plants in Ontario and New York.  That accounts at least in part for the much higher price.     I think it's inaccurate to say that Freightliner (or rather DTNA) approached and somehow coerced Ford into selling their heavy truck operation for pennies.  Ford very clearly wanted out of the heavy truck business for two primary reasons, first low profits, and second, they wanted to convert KTP to exclusive production of the upcoming Super Duty line of light trucks.  I was told at the time this was all happening Ford was very close to including all medium duty trucks in the deal (they were built at KTP as well), but made a last-minute decision to keep the F series medium duty in production in Escobedo Mexico.  The Freightliner deal did include the Cargo series medium duty trucks.     The Acterra line used the former Ford cab on a Freightliner chassis, and later versions of the Cargo were built on Freightliner FL 60/70 chassis.  The Acterra was a close approximation to the HN80 medium duty F series replacement Ford was planning for sometime around 1999.      Ford didn't break out class 8 sales from class 6 and 7 sales back in those days, but by 1996 Ford's class 8 share by itself was very small and shrinking.  Ford's strength was in medium duty and class 7 vocational.  Freightliner was primarily after those vocational class 7 sales as they were weak in that specific area.  Freightliner also wanted the dealer network and the Ford parts business was icing on the cake.  The one part of the deal Freightliner was perhaps less excited about was Ford's over-the-road class 8 business, as that was a market Freightliner was particularly strong it.  In fact, Ford had shown a prototype HN80 long-nose OTR conventional model was to have replaced the Louisville LTL as Ford's flagship heavy truck, but Freightliner dropped the program and focused Sterling on vocational and fleet truck sales.   To this day I have wondered what happened to the 2 long nose HN80 prototypes that were supposedly built.  There were pictures of one of them taken at a commercial truck show in late 1996.   

In that van size range Ford already has the Transit Custom which shares most of hybrid powertrain with Maverick.  As previously discussed why not just use that award-winning and bestselling design? 🤔    Interesting timing of this thread in that Ford is currently releasing at Caravan Salon in Germany the latest Transit Custom Nugget camper van made by Westfalia.  It’s essentially the long wheelbase Transit Custom mid-size van with a hard-sided fiberglass raised roof.  It’s being promoted as a winter-capable camper compared to their other models using a pop-up roof with canvas sides.  Downside is that it’s too tall to be garageable and also consumes more fuel than pop-up variants.  Regardless, potential is very promising.   i know RVs are small volume compared to commercial applications, but this new Nugget model shows how versatile the Transit Custom is.  If Ford is indeed developing a Maverick van instead they must be looking to make it much cheaper.    

Yeah, I interpret it in the same way. Maybe they need to understand their customers better. The Navigator styling is way better but in terms of power and tech, there is no difference sadly. Also considering the Escalade starts at 93k and has way more tech, they need something less expensive to compete (although IMO the should have given the Navi more tech/features)

“based on consumer interest and retailer feedback.”   I interpret this as it’s too damn expensive and we need something cheaper to sell.     There is something to be said about the styling differences between a Navigator and an Expedition, so I don’t necessarily agree that it means just buy a loaded Expedition. I personally prefer the Navigator styling over the Expedition, and would consider giving something up for better styling.    With the Escalade starting out at $93,695, you need something to compete there.  I have seen plenty of base Escalades on the road so someone is buying them.