I like it too — much more than I thought I would.  The back seat probably has very limited headroom based on silhouette but that should be expected on a small 2+2 that low.  Pictures show it does fold flat which is a bonus.  The Civic hybrid has been tested to do 0-60 in 6.2 seconds and if this ~6” shorter Prelude can match (which it should unless heavier) that seems good enough for most buyers too.   The most disappointing spec is that fuel economy is not as good as I expected.  Honda site shows only 46 City 41 Hwy 44 Combined which is good but lower than Civic.  Not sure why since they appear to share powertrain, unless sports-oriented tires and larger brakes add drag compared to Civic.  Not that it makes much of a fuel cost difference but doesn’t make an environmental statement like Prius.    

If you were not alive then you don't understand.  For about a decade from the mid 80's Ford absolutely ruled.  For a good amount of years they had around five of the top 10 best selling cars and with the arrival of the Taurus and other aero cars some of the best looking cars of the time.  They also covered all segments.  There is definitely some great cars now but as a company overall in all segments there is no comparison.    Some history for you young ins.    

The odd thing, in Europe, the Escape (badged as a Kuga) was launched and was (and is still) sold alongside the Focus.  ...and it literally looked like a bloated Focus. Chevrolet turned the second gen Trax into a more car-like crossover Cruze replacement and it's actually working in the US. I believe it even outsells the bigger more upright Escape SUV.   

Because they’re more active in racing than they were before and it sounds way better at the track.  

Place your bets as to what you think will be revealed in January. From most to least likely. I believe this could be the CE1 truck as they leaned on F1 heavily for the areo development, so there's a motorsports connection there.   If it's not that, I think it's the gt 500 successor, and last but not least, it could be a concept for this off-road supercar Ford's been talking about for awhile. 

It also means they don’t need stripped down Rangers to meet a lower price point.

I still believe they tried too hard to make it a Focus replacement and to make it the anti Bronco Sport.  In retrospect both were bad decisions.   Also lack of hybrids early on really hurt sales.

Correct, at the moment only BL and Reserve with the Jet package

Yeah, they really phoned it in with the current gen Escape.

The problem with Ford is they treat its non-icon brands like soulless blobs. Other carmakers give a lot of importance to their mainstream models even the entry level ones. Example: whether you like it or not, the Tucson has been outselling the Escape since the current generation went on sale in the US in early 2021. Prior to 2021, the Escape outsold the Tucson by a wide margin.