Maybe Ford needs to hire us BON guys! I'll do the job for $50,000  and no pension or medical plan is required. Send me an application Ford. To paraphrase an old Ford slogan, "Have you seen any intelligence at Ford lately?"  

The default priority code for retail orders is 19. Your Dealer must manually assign a lower priority code. Dealer assigned retail order priority codes can be as low as 03. My advice is that you not wait for or rely on emails from Ford. You should deal directly with the Salaes Manager, or individual responsible for managing their orders and let them know that you expect them to update you on status changes for your order. The Dealer has 24/7 access to the most recent order status including commodity issues. In addition, I would not rely on communications from a Sales Representative as they often are not experienced with the retail order process and don't have access to the order status updates. 

Correct, A lot of people can see what Ford is trying to do, wanting buyers to establish a strong connection with those vehicles, something you really can’t do with an appliance/white goods…   Not necessarily performance but more like nice overall package of all the things a buyer expects plus that nice feel.

Or at least as you mentioned, a much lower valued trim and sales mix than Ford was hoping for. Kind of like when they started selling enough Fusions to build at two plants and then, FRAP production line for Fusion seemed to end abruptly….

They’re not going after enthusiasts per se.  They’re just going after more buyers that are passionate about their vehicles and aren’t simply buying the cheapest thing they can find.  Go follow some Bronco Sport or Maverick groups or forums and you’ll see what I mean.

You’re focusing too much on history and changes.  Instead pretend you’re a buyer who doesn’t know all this history and inside info - how does the current Mustang compare with other similar vehicles?  Just because they killed Camaro and Charger it doesn’t mean there aren’t other options.  Germans have the performance but cost way more.  Asians can’t match the performance.   Yes there are lots of little things that are frustrating like deleting floor mats but show me anything else that can match Mustang on both price and performance.

Picked it up this afternoon, the 22nd, and am thrilled. The Black Agate Metallic paint and Mojave Dusk interior make quite a good looking package in my opinion. The bells and whistles are very foreign to me but I'll figure them out about the time the loan is paid off. It was subjected to a random audit which was a 16 mile test drive at the factory. Don't know if the audit includes anything else. The 24" tire/wheel combination is impressive. I feel as though the interior is wider as I sit behind the wheel. I've only driven about 30 miles but so far I like it. Hope my experience is not unique.   CJ Dave.

True, but it sounds like Ford is trying to break away from the commodity market, and chase after the enthusiasts market more heavily. We'll see how committed they actually are to that strategy and how far it goes.    As you stated, enthusiasts notice this stuff a lot more than casual consumers do. Casual consumers might not care if a product is redesigned often, but enthusiasts will. 

I just can’t believe that most buyers actually look deeply into number of recalls, or affected number of vehicles, etc.  My guess (and that’s all it is) is that they consider and value the manufacturer’s reputation as reported by media and friends alike, whether that ranking is deserved or not.  Results from article below reflect what many repeat; again, whether accurate or not.  Most people I know believe Toyotas are great, Hondas are great, etc.  Fords I think are viewed as average for the most part.   https://fordauthority.com/2025/05/americans-say-ford-has-good-reputation-but-vibes-are-down-from-2024/

In my opinion your premise is incorrect because Ford on average is not making that much profit per vehicle.  If they lowered prices their profitability would be even lower, and it’s not that great now.  Essentially they are not laughing their way to the bank (I know you didn’t mean it literally).  Some would say they are somewhat struggling.   What I think is actually happening is that Ford’s cost to manufacture vehicles on average is higher than many competitors’, and therefore can not do what you want — invest in new/updated products or lower prices (or a combination of the two).   Obviously they make more profit on some models, but part of that profit is required to subsidize models that make much less profit (it averages out).  If they could have a hit in every segment, of course they would.  But that’s not realistic.  For now they need to claw their way back to the top by reducing costs and developing new vehicles that will result in high demand (which leads to greater margins).  Unfortunately that takes money, which isn’t free.