Now that would make a ton of sense with both being built together in the same plant, maybe replicate that in another plant elsewhere too (like Thailand third plant?)

That’s not true, the new vehicle emission standard will eventually make it impossible for diesel pickups to be sold in Australia, how is that going back to oil dependency.   Also our Aussie electric power grid is rapidly transitioning to green power and as of 2024 was 40% and inceasing with desire to be 85% by the middle of the 2030s.

I stand corrected, so these mega castings are going to save owners money in the unfortunate event of a car crash? Sounds like the savings of a simpler construction method will make repairs both easier and cheaper for insurance.   I guess the better question was how did manufacturers like Ford allow their vehicle manufacturing process become so complicated and parts intensive….almost like engineering solutions were add ons year over year, compounding on a design’s complexity instead of eliminating that…

No, not a problem, I guess just surprises but it is for the reason you said, it is a product made for China so it normal a bigger refresh 😅

Had to remove the bumper and wheel well liner to replace the headlight bulb on daughter's old escape.  More presents from the european engineers.

They had to replace a rear shock on our Flex from inside.  Crazy!

California says "Hold my Beer".....

That's a fair point.   So I guess you'd have to remove all connected bodywork and interior components to have access to the giga/mega cast part, but depending on the accident severity you may have to do that already with the regular repairs.     ----   Indirectly related, I remember years ago in my Flex, the windshield reservoir squirter motor died and rather than take it to the dealer to replace it, where I'm sure they'd have charged a fortune to do it, I decided to do it myself since the part was like $15 or something like that.   Well, anyway, it was on the passenger side in front of the front wheel.  But to get to it, I had to either somehow take the wheel well covering off (which still wouldn't guarantee enough room to maneuver), or pull the whole front bumper off.  I decided to do the latter, and broke a mounting clip in the process (old brittle plastic), so I had to get a replacement for that on top of the motor, and it went smoothly after that.   The point of that story is that it's crazy how many things you have to disassemble for even just a simple repair like that.  I can't even imagine having to deal with repairing a damaged vehicle.

I was just about to say that

Labor cost is the real savings as it is outrageously expensive.  I would imagine swapping out a giga (or mega) casting is pretty quick compared to R&R of 100 or so parts, torquing down each one appropriately, making sure alignment is within spec, etc.