Ford decontenting goes back a long way.  I still remember how upset I was when I found out my 99 Sable was missing a ton of stuff from a 96 Sable only 3 years earlier.   96 had a PRND21 indicator on the dash as well as the floor shifter, gone by 99 96 had an OD off button on the shifter, gone by 99 96 had courtesy lights on the doors and under the dash, gone by 99 96 had carpeting around the center console AND a rear ash tray under the rear vents, gone by 99 was just exposed plastic with no ash tray 96 had rear map pockets on the back of the front seats, gone by 99 96 had dual sun visors, gone by 99 96 had a locking glove box that was lighted, gone by 99 96 had rear disc brakes, gone by 99 switched to drum 96 had the ability to open the rear seats from the trunk in case you were trapped, gone by 99 though in 2000 they added the glow in the dark tag to release the trunk lid but in 99 you were screwed. 96 had tweeters in the front doors by the mirrors on the base sound system, gone by 99 only a 4 speaker for the base sound system 96 had power lumbar for the passenger seat if it was manual or power, gone by 99 even if you upgraded to a power seat there was no longer a power lumbar option 96 had a blue tint on the top of the windshield, gone by 99 96 had a low coolant warning light, gone by 99 ... ridiculous   Granted this is from almost 30 years ago but just an example of Ford decontenting.  When I had my Sable I tried to add as much of this back as I could.  I got all the lighting back, the dual visors, the locking glove box, the rear disc brakes, I also added the JBL premium sound system which was only available on the 96 model it got replaced by the MACH sound system from 97-07.  I wanted the JBL because it came with a small subwoofer on the rear deck and the Taurus had the cut out from that all the way till 07.  Easy addin.     

Slate has something on their hands with that small pickup.  I have seen it advertised a lot on social media and so far seems like people are loving the idea.  I am curious how well it will sell.

As mentioned above a lot of dealerships have been asking for a sedan for Lincoln for some time now, I have seen that in the "Everything Lincoln" group on Facebook which has a few dealership folks in it.  But also, and I know this is anecdotal, a lot of folks in the MKZ and Continental groups I am in are upset about there not being another gen of MKZ and Continental and almost all of them have switched to Genesis and are not looking back.  

Those ugly AF Amazon delivery vans are EVERYWHERE. I live in the middle of nowhere now and they still come to my house when I order from Amazon. 

Probably banking on the government subsidies never ending. 

Absolutely. I've often said where Ford excels, where Ford is the best car brand in the world, is when it comes to affordable aspirational products, dream cars your average person can afford. If this platform really lays the ground work for Ford to return to that, and becomes a powerhouse of fun, affordable products, I'll be thrilled.    I'd like to see Ford take inspiration from brands like Slate in terms of customization. Not in the sense of having to pay extra for things like a radio like Slate does, but in terms of having things like a lot of exterior and interior customization you can do straight from Ford. Hardly anyone is trying to offer deep customization on EVs at the moment. If Ford does that with their affordable EVs, it would not only boost their appeal, but also their profits as well. 

Yea, exactly. Ford's Universal Electric Platform provides a good foundation for the company to avoid the mistakes it made with its money losing anonymous unibody sedans in the past. The head honcho himself said that the shift toward software-defined and electric vehicles is underway and that Ford can be a real innovator in those areas.   I agree with you that if Ford delivers vehicles from that platform on time, with high quality and compelling designs, they will be a slam dunk.   Jim Farley: I have seen this movie before. When Ford said we were moving to an aluminum body in our popular F-150, our competitors aired commercials lampooning us. But customers knew better performance and fuel economy when they saw it. I remember when mobile phones seemed to be just for doctors and stockbrokers. When computers were for NASA. When the internet was a fad and CDs lined my truck’s visor. It takes time for innovations to take hold. But when they do, the shift is profound and lasting. I believe the next great shift for vehicles will be toward software-defined and electric vehicles.

Headgaskets are difficult, just ask Subaru.   I'm impressed Ford can find a meaningful difference through software.   FWIW, without writing a book, keeping an eye on and replenishing the coolant goes a long way towards longevity.    We just retired our 14 Focus ST at 200k miles, due to rocker rust.  First noticed heat coming/going around 60-70k, coolant was low.  Kept an eye from there, and would add a cup a week through summer after a few 1hr drives.   I'm sure there's a spotless cylinder in there, but simply opening the hood once in a while let this issue go on without concern, was not tired in any way shape or form at 10yrs and 200k from new.   Opening the hood, oh the horror!   Best, - Jeff    

What's really interesting is how he's talking about a performance sedan, but talking about making it affordable, that's a pretty unique combination of attributes.    I agree with you, that price matters to a lot of people, hence the whole affordability thing. But I believe other factors play a role as well. I agree that we're the outliers, we notice things your average customer doesn't, but I still believe they have the same appreciation for a good product that we do, it's just more surface level. But it still registers with them, and plays a role in their purchasing decisions.    They're not like us where they're saying "Oh this Ecoboost hits peak torque really low in the RPM range" but they will say things like "This thing is punchy, it'll make merging into the highway a lot less stressful". It's the same with design, they don't really talk about things like proportions, line flow, surfacing, and so on, but they still can recognize a good looking car when they see one.    So why does this matter? It's because Ford's mainstream sedans tend to struggle on the differentiation front, whereas something like the Camry pushes it's unique attributes to the front with things like having class leading reliability that appeals to a lot of people, something that makes it a got to have it product for certain buyers. By comparison, your normal Tarus and fusion models were just kinda mid-pack, not bad cars, but they didn't really do anything to really stand out a ton in their segments.    But I believe if ford comes out with a new sedan, and says "This costs about as much as a Camry, but it will have a better warranty, better long term reliability, lower maintenance costs, better performance, it's more refined due to how good the NVH is, and it's better looking" suddenly Ford has the much more compelling product. I think that'll win more people over than just doing another fusion, but acceptance rates of EV tech near the end of the 2020s will definitely determine that. If people are more open to evs, these affordable EVs will be a slam dunk. 

He’s just mad that buyers moved away from small cars which he loves so he’s decided the government and the big bad corporations have conspired to force Americans to buy crossovers, SUVs and trucks.  He completely ignores that American buyers WANT utilities and trucks and the only reason 90% of buyers chose small cars was because it was the cheapest vehicle.   Nissan bypassed the chicken tax by building trucks here and even with bargain basement pricing couldn’t make a dent in ford, GM and Ram sales.  Toyota had more success with Tacoma but Tundra didn’t move the needle either.