Disagree strongly. The reason why Ford USA walked away from involvement in the first generation T6 Ranger was because they wanted a smaller lighter truck. That happened at the kick off meeting back in 2006 but Allan Mulally refuesed to even consider a replacement for the US Ranger, because he wanted Ford to offer existing products instead and just shut down  all the BOFs (Ranger, Explorer & Sport Trac) and just push Escape.     The Maverick is a great but unique vehicle in a sea of rather bland compact utilities, the moment all other brands start trying to copy it, Ford will change its tune and start calling it a commodity…..but until then it is a darling product just like Edge was when it first sold just below D3 Explorer’s price point.

Sedan same as coupe.  SUV same as Explorer.

Went by today - now $3.47 a gallon. 

Thanks for the info   

And for money invested the Lightning was well spent in getting a place holder in there against the BEV sSilverado    Interestingly, Ford first delayed and then canceled its ground up designed BEV replacement for the Lightning, I think the truth was it wasn’t all that different to the Chevrolet BEV Silverado that gets modest sales…   I just think that Ford and GM thought they could replicate Tesla’s success with BEVs but with big profitable vehicles, it was a Cha Ching moment from word go, they thought they were going to cash in big time while still selling their highly profitable full sized ICE trucks……both brands drank the Kool aid and didn’t see the warning signs

It's only a stopgap in terms of the vehicle architecture not being a ground up EV which made Ford's internal costs higher.   Ut certainly not from the owner's perspective.

What kind of powertrains would you like a gas powered mustang SUV to have? Personally, I would like it if they mirror the coupe, and sedan. We know the coupe is probably gonna go hybrid at some point, it's inevitable, and it sounds like the sedan is gonna be the same deal. So with that in mind, a 2.3 and 5.0 hybrid would both be pretty neat. The 2.3 for more casual consumers, and the 5.0 for the all out hot rod. I don't know how well a hybrid AWD 5.0 would perform, but I'd imagine it would get pretty close to the 0-60 performance of the mach-e gt with better top end.    My personal dream would be a new platform, either a revised cd6 or something different that the coupe, sedan, and crossover could all share. 

Yea, exactly. I never thought of my 2022 F-150 Lightning as a "stopgap", just a great pickup truck - the best F-150 I've ever had among the several that I bought over the past 30 years.   Hopefully the lessons Ford learns with Universal Electric Vehicle Platform and Universal Electric Vehicle Production system will be applied to future F-150 Lightnings and get costs under control.

Escape just isn't competitive on styling and probably features with all of the decontenting.  She just didn't like it.

This is all about green image and being seen as reducing CO2 emissions with current ICE vehicles. Let me explain by using Australia’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (based on Euro 6d)   The V6 diesel Ranger has a NVES CO2 rating of over 220 g/km while the PHEV Ranger is down around 66 g/km which is basically the object of the new regulations - the elimination of high CO2 producing vehicles. From what I gather, the Shark 6 with bigger battery is even better with 46 g/100 km   Its also an opportunity for businesses to make the switch - I think that now a consideration that’s required under the new ISO 9001 certification   Australia's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) sets mandatory, annually decreasing CO2 𝐶𝑂2 emission limits for new passenger (Type 1) and light commercial vehicles (Type 2) starting in 2025. In 2025, the targets are 141g/km for Type 1 and 210g/km for Type 2, with limits tightening to 68g/km and 122g/km respectively by 2028   Key NVES  CO2 𝐶𝑂2 Emission Targets (Headline Limits) 2025: Type 1 (141g/km), Type 2 (210g/km) 2026: Type 1 (117g/km), Type 2 (180g/km) 2027: Type 1 (92g/km), Type 2 (150g/km) 2028: Type 1 (68g/km), Type 2 (122g/km)    How the NVES Works Scope: Applies to new passenger cars, SUVs, utes, and vans up to 4.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass. Targets: The targets are national averages for each manufacturer's fleet, meaning they can sell high-emission vehicles if offset by low-emission models. Credits & Penalties: Manufacturers earn credits for beating targets or incur penalties for exceeding them. Companies can trade credits. Compliance: The system incentivizes a faster transition to fuel-efficient, hybrid, and electric vehicles. Results (2025): In the first, partially-implemented period, many brands were above their targets, leading to the need for credit trading.