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?".

What a Mustang Sedan current platform or moving it to CD6?   I'm guessing the calculus on the Mustang sedan changed-the coupe market is shrinking and well prior to the current administration, CAFE was rearing its head and longer overall Mustang would make CAFE requirements "easier". Spending money on the mustang and spreading it between two products on a platform that is more or less paid off and would hopefully double current sales seems like it would work.  

FWIW, some Borg tidbits:   I guess I should say Ford is down to 13 nameplates with Lincoln, unless Corsair returns in a few months and it'll be 14 by year's end. They are adding the Skunk Truck, Skunk Escape, Skunk Corsair, the Ohio built Transit Custom Van (not the Maverick Van apparently), Bronco Pickup, 4-Door Mustang, and possibly a Maverick SUV and Van. I think the Maverick models have been dropped because they had plans to import Bronco Sport from Spain and free up space at Hermosillo for the added models, but now it looks like the expansion plans in Valencia are off so that probably means Mex BS stays put. Hopefully this means they can give us the Bronco Sport HEV, and not just the PHEV they planned to import. The HEV had Tariff issues weirdly enough that the PHEV didn't. That would at least give Ford a Hybrid SUV, even if it wouldn't be as cheap and efficient as the larger Maverick SUV. So they will be adding stuff through 2030, and continue investing in Mach E with refreshes. Some of these are just expansions of existing nameplates, but Ford is moving into new categories it will really only share with Jeep/RAM...once again. And hey, RAM is responding to Maverick at least. Ford and GM continue to duke it out over Full-Size stuff of course. I guess the Explorer and Aviator Hybrid isn't returning to retail as I was lead to believe. I think Ford is struggling to decide its next move on 3-Row, but it's advancing redesigns of Explorer and Aviator to extend its life.

We've just heard forever that it wasn't worth it, but somehow now it is?

The 2026MY Balance Out Date information should have been available at about the time the 2027MY Super Duty Unscheduled Order Bank opened, when the 2027 Super Duty Order Guides were released. FYI... A 2027 order can't be placed without being submitted to the Unscheduled Order Bank. 

I could be mistaken, but I believe there was a notice several years ago regarding dealers being able to assign retail priority codes below "10" as part of an updated/revised retail order process. At a minimum, the Dealer needs to review the commodity restraints specific to the order. It's then a simple process of contacting the Regional Office to have the order reprioritized. It's not unusual for Ford to make exceptions to commodity restraints. 

10-4. Mitsubishi Outlander school of design. If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.