I've thought about this as well. With tariffs really eating into profits, of Ford's EV plants are underutilized, perhaps there could come a day when Ford builds batteries or entire vehicles to help maximize production capacity. Those brands even after paying Ford a premium could probably make more money compared to the alternative, importing their own EVs and being faced with a hefty tariff. 

As an owner of a 2021 Ford Edge ST, I would love to have seen the next gen Edge based on a shortened Explorer platform with a fastback styled rear with short overhangs. There's nothing Ford currently offers or that has shown to be coming that I would replace my current Edge with. The current Explorer is too big and the Mach E is looking dated. If they come out with a 4 door Mustang with a V8, I would seriously consider one of those. 

I get what you're saying, but correlation doesn't imply causation. Large sedans in general started to collapse in sales around that time. 

I disagree, your average Nautilus owner isn't gonna even know an edge shares components with their cars. Virtually none of the Escalade or navigator owners I've met know or care that their vehicles share so much with vehicles that are 30% less expensive.    I feel like if anyone was gonna be pissed off about that, it would be the people who bought the most expensive halo model within that brand. I think we as enthusiasts notice this stuff, causal buyers generally don't, especially as it comes to sharing design cues.    A nautilus could still justify its price premium by having nicer interior materials and design, the luxury brand status, and so on. I don't believe someone who paid 60 grand for a nautilus with a super high end interior would be mad about a 45 grand edge with similar styling, a cheaper interior, and a less prestigious brand. 

P.S. — Not exactly the same, but similar to when Tesla introduced Model 3 which in some ways resembled much more expensive Model S.  After that, sales of Model S plummeted as did their resale value.  Again, not exactly the same, but suddenly the image and value of previous luxury vehicle took a big hit.

I believe auto companies, actually all companies, should be careful not to dilute the image and value of their premium brands.  I was referring more to the general sequence than to Ford versus Lincoln specifically.  Your statement below jumped out at me.   Going from affordable to luxury doesn’t seem as damaging to me because at least the new buyers of the luxury vehicle know what’s involved and can therefore price it into their decision.  Reminds me of when GM took cheap Chevy Cavalier and upgraded to pseudo-luxury Cadillac Cimarron.   Going the other way, however, seems much different to me if I understand your point correctly.  If a company takes a luxury vehicle and waters it down to sell at a much lower price point, I believe two things could happen.  Firstly, could discourage many prospective buyers of the premium vehicle from purchasing, and secondly, previous owners of the premium vehicles could get pissed and feel betrayed.  I would think intelligent owners would figure out that such a move would likely depreciate the value of their vehicle.  Just my 2 cents (opinion) since this is extremely subjective topic.

Found these over at Bronco 6G....  

Production appeared to be way down for all three plants. 

The EREVs are based on (paired with) existing or next-gen ICE products, though, so it makes far more sense to have them grouped with production of the respective model than one single EREV plant building x# of models.   My idea was to make BOC a single EV plant that produced all standalone (no ICE alt) EV products, whether CE1, Mach E, T3, etc).  And keep all the existing factories as-is except for the Mach E plant, which could've become another C2 plant, which would help facilitate the new Transit Connect and Maverick SUV.  Then existing plants could be converted as/when EV demand picks up.   Easier said than done, though.

If ce1 can be profitable there is no reason T3 won’t be profitable.  If nothing else we know Ford attracts premium truck buyers.  And Lightning is just too costly compared to what ce1 is bringing to the table, although Lightning does benefit from F150 sharing.   To me the question is how much volume they can get from T3 short term.  That’s where lower prices will help a lot. (Lower than lightning).