The article in the link also has a snippet from ford engineer reporting on problems encountered preventing sign off in pre production tests with a validation prototype.   At the time DCT was lauded for promising up to 10% greater efficiency over automatic but that didn’t take into account the newer mid gear lockup strategies present in the Ford/GM JV 6F transmissions.   https://hackaday.com/2020/06/03/fords-powershift-debacle/

Vast majority of car and truck buyers don't give a shit what is inside their car for an engine as long it runs well and gets ok gas mileage in their eyes.   All your doing is trying to pick pepper out of fly shit...and the success of the Ecoboost engines in the F-150 has shown that it is pretty much a nonfactor with 60% of sales being one. 

What it boils down to cost-they don't want to have to send their mechanics out for additional training or what not and I'm guessing some of it is ignorance.    Its also part of the reason why Police depts kept using Crown Vics-they knew them inside out and didn't have to change anything with gear with them, so they saved money and used it some place else, not because the CVPI was such a good vehicle-it was good enough for the role it had. 

That very well could be the case, but I cannot see how this hasn’t cost them way more in the long run, in actual expense and damage to their reputation.  Sometimes you just have to eat the contract or litigate it.  

https://www.thedrive.com/news/ford-is-benchmarking-cadillac-ct4-v-blackwing-as-mustang-sedan-rumors-heat-up   Just to confirm that, look what Ford was benchmarking last year. 

Who's to say you can't do both? Hell, do a Lincoln version of the normal mustang coupe while you're at it. The profit margins on a Lincoln coupe and sedan using an already developed mustang platform would be pretty solid, and would elevate the brand's image.    This could even be how we see the return of the RWD Lincoln Continental a lot of people wanted. 

Sounds more like Cadillac CT4 or CT5 type situation….

But should it be a generic sports sedan or something special like a CLS-like Mark IX 4-door coupe? 

I suspect it was a long term contract with the Getrag JV plant but Fields made a fatal error by accepting the idea that the problems could be fixed in production when engineers were  warning that would be difficult, hard to countermand your boss when he wants a solution.. (we’ve been in those kinds of meetings when a Dilbert moment happens)   The 1.5 EB was basically plug and play in C1 thanks to Escape, could be others but Ford knew that vehicle weight played a big role in PS not suitable in anything bigger than Fiesta or Ka   Back up right to the start and Focus/Fiesta could have used the small 6F  instead of PS and been the equal of the Mazda 3 and 2 in terms of reliability 

I hope one day an insider will explain why they made that decision.  It would be more understandable if they were saving money by not doing the development of the 1.5/6F but that work was already done in Europe.  Plug and play.  There had to be some kind of contractual issue with the suppliers.