A lot of local sales success depend on the dealers- For example, in Minnesota Ford used to sell well because Boyer Ford Trucks offered good service and competitive pricing. In the more rural areas International sold well because they had dealers everywhere. Now it seems Daimler just undercuts everyone else on price and has half the market...

Fuel economy?  Also the 2.0L has only been on the badlands trim on the Bronco Sport AFIAKR

The Maverick price changes seemed to have a lot more to do with rebalancing the powertrains than mere decontenting. Is it possible to get a Lobo SVT300 for under $40k now? Greatest product they’ve made in years tbh.

So I've been pricing out a 2027 Maverick Tremor (which would be my 4th Maverick), and after adding back in the deleted features, it's about $2800 LESS than a 2026.   It's almost a no-brainer to order a fresh one.   HRG

I'd like to see that someday!

That’s progress. I just spent $100 to eliminate the Dumb ASS on my Ranger. Hate it with a passion. 

One less chipset to program

At least they got rid of auto stop-start. 

Ford outsourced a lot of component modules that are software controlled which was where the big hurt with F150 back in 2023. Let’s face guys, Ford was trying to do just in time manufacturing with chips coming from China. That only works in a super stable environment and waiting for production of chips to restart is what killed Ford’s plans.

Heck, I just saw a 2026 Escape Active on someone's lot priced out over $40k... and that wasn't as high as it could have gotten. Year-to-year pricing has definitely become a shell game. Hold the price or lower it, but take away a bunch of standard features, putting them into a bundle isn't exactly holding the price. I tend to go into a new model year building out a new unit to have the features the prior year had, just to get an apples-to-apples read. Base trim level, plus our normal stuff, plus whatever Extortion Package there is for the year. That kind of thing.