My guess is cd6, which I'm ok with if Ford can prevent making the next gen mustang significantly heavier. 

I didn't like it either, until I used one.  It's much easier to use as it's closer to the driver's line of sight and you don't have to take your eyes off the road as much to focus on the screen.

If/when I need to replace my 2020 Escape, it'll either be a Maverick hybrid, or a new Toyota RAV4 hybrid...

Or all of the above, including oversized screens, etc.  Poor business judgement can lead to multiple bad decisions at same time, right, so theoretically any one undesirable item can adversely affect sales at incremental level.  It’s cumulative.  We can’t blame one item more than others if there’s no way to know what is actually causing lower sales.   A normal-size screen seems fine to me, but thinking every buyer wants a car with a huge 15” or so screen like Tesla introduced years ago is wrong IMO.  Manufacturers need to find the right balance in lieu of just making them bigger because they can, and then promoting theirs is bigger.  I personally find the ones that stretch across the entire dash questionable and would not consider a vehicle designed that way.  It would be a deal breaker for me, so there’s probably an upper limit where buyers push back.  While complaining I might as well say that the ones that stick up above dash like a computer monitor look hideous to me. 😀

From what I've seen online, the USOB (Unscheduled Order Bank) was due to open on 05/02/2025 with production scheduled to start on 07/21/2025. I have not seen the 2026 Lincoln Nautilus Order Guide yet. 

I would love to see a manual transmission in F250/F350's again. Several might say with the 10 speed auto you don't need one. I pick up hay every year by myself. I put the transfer case in low range, manual trans in low and let my truck drive itself.  I reach through the window and steer as needed.

The anti-blob crowd. 😀    

Yes - I remember an article or two about that. I’m wondering if the current platform is robust enough to compete with the premium competition (e.g. BMW 3 series 4 door) that I’m assuming Ford will be targeting. 

No locking diff except for Tremor and SSV, can't get it on the Platinum or King Ranch.

Neither is thinking that seems to be implies in the article that a  BEV Escape will sell at anything greater than a small percentage of the ICE model. Escape buyers will migrate to competitor’s ICE models.