Yet Farley is still employed. 

As someone who owns an Escape and rented several BS, I concur.  They are not the same.  It has to be stretched if they want that to happen. 

Yes, they certainly did.     MSRP 2025 - $56,770, 2026 - $56,905 Sun/Sound Pkg, 2025 - $2,995, 2026 - $3,340   In addition to the decontenting previously discussed, not only did they remove the opening sun roof they raised the price of the package with its fixed glass. I also noticed they removed the bin cover in the center console, the small tray in the armrest, and the ST specific key fobs, that were available on the 2025 model.    Then there’s this little doozy.     The dealer delivered the car to us and we did the paperwork at my house.  I didn’t notice until the next day.  I called the dealer and initially they thought it was the way they came now, but after looking at their other STs on the lot they had a few that had the ST emblem and some with the a 4x4, which is disappointing for Ford’s quality control.  Ultimately it is a misbuild.      To answer your 2nd question, I was recommending an Aviator, Audi Q8, LR Defender 130, and RR Sport.    She didn’t want the Aviator, which I did, because she thinks they still present an old person image. Ironically we aren’t spring chickens, lol. She was meh on the Q8.  She didn’t go with the Defender or the Sport,  because the dealer was too far away, but the Sport was also a little too expensive.     Frankly there isn’t anything particularly exciting  out there right now, which is why this will be a stop gap message.  She put a deposit on the Scout Traveler with the range extender, which is probably the most interesting thing coming out in the near future.    

that’s an interesting take but the pillar interior looks too think to be from the angle you’re suggesting, IMO

Agreed. It's a shame those plans went out the window, but of all the Ford plans, they seem like some of the most logical to dust off and try again. Cd6 seems like a really capable platform, heck, if it can make the explorer a solid performance car, I can only imagine how well an actual sedan or coupe on that platform would handle if just a bit of effort was put in.    It's just sitting there begging to be optimized and improved. 

I’m convinced they are purposely kneecapping it.  There are lots of potential customers for cheaper options. 

I think you’re reading into things that aren’t there.  This is (I think) talking about a smaller van no?

Transit replaced in 2029:    

How much will this share with EU Transit?

To twintirnados If you do the research, there were many very good people at GM and Ford that did not want to take the front wheel drive trip. I think Roger Smith at GM thought everything should be front wheel drive even luxury cars and full size sedans. This is how we got the front wheel drive Buick Electra and the corresponding Cadillacs like the Deville and Sevilles. Ford had to follow but wisely stopped at the Taurus size on front wheel drive and derived the Lincoln FWD from the Taurus. To be competitive with Cadillac,ford had to do a front wheel drive Continental V8, Intec 4.6 liter which did not sell very well and never got even close to the anticipated volume. Again, hind sight is 20/20 and that why the replacement of the 302 and 351W V8 engines was done with 100mm bore centers with the 4.6 and 5.4 V 8’s. The group that redesigned the 4.6 into the current 5.0, that replaced both the 4.6. & 5.4, were able to use the 4.6 block transfer lines with no change to bore center or deck height, a major accomplishment! Expect a refined  5.0 V8 to be in F150 for a long time probably with a more efficient hybrid drivetrain than the current Powerboost as an option. edselford