Isn't this caused by contamination of the Aluminum with steel or something? I know this was a thing on Mustangs-I had an accident with mine when it was 2 years old and don't recall it being an issue after having it for almost 12 years.  

I have a hard time wrapping my head around buying a 100K+ minivan for livery service, when other midsized or full sized CUVs exist for less money.    The biggest issue for MB and BMW is they've sold their luxury image to US customers at least for so long that people aren't willing to look at their products in more mainstream roles-I don't think Sprinters have worked out that great-they sold better as a Dodge back in the day. I've been around entry level 7 Series as cabbies back 30 years ago, it might work in Germany but I don't think the typical US customer that buys fleet vehicles is going to go MB for their livery vehicles outside of very specific niche markets-they'll be lucky to sell 20-30K if that of these vehicles here. 

Make that C2 derived....   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_GE1_platform     Wondering if "Team Edison" is still around now that "Skunk Works" has taken the lead.

Wow, that’s the missing piece….. not many people would be aware of that.

Found the post:  https://blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?/topic/78700-lincoln-to-get-bronco-based-range-rover-fighter/page/4/#comment-1251034

Where did I say that the CE1 MME would be first before CE1 Escape?!!   I just have my doubts that ford is going to actually pull the trigger on a Mustang ICE crossover, given their track record with things and we’ve been talking about a Mustang Sedan for over 10 years now. 

All things equal higher ATPs and slightly less volume is good.  Especially when lower ATPs represent little to no profit.   The market has spoken - high ATP EVs are not selling and the ones that are still lose money whereas ce1 products should be profitable at lower ATPs.  Still leaves room for higher priced vehicles.

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This could be what is happening. ExplorerDude told us a while back that CD6 wasn’t disappearing and in fact it’s utilization would be expanded.

I'd love that, but I'm highly skeptical. If Ford decides to do that, it would be an excellent halo model for the platform. But it would have to be a vehicle that came along after the platform was optimized for cost so it could be profitable, even with low volume.    Edit (Sorry, I thought you said coupe, but my brain completely skipped over the CUV part of your comment for some reason, my apologies. My head has been all over the place since my father passed on Wednesday, just can't focus).