In the process of buying one. The exterior color is Midnight Currant Red Metallic with red leather interior. It has a moonroof. Not 100% sure what other options it has but everything works including the AC and air ride suspension. It has the 225 hp 5.0L HO and 4-speed AOD transmission. About 62K miles in excellent condition. No rust anywhere that I can see. Paint and interior look flawless. All I'm waiting on now is for the seller to give me his info so we can do a bank-to-bank money transfer and for the shipper to send me their paperwork. Have already agreed on pricing for the car and for shipment to my door. It will need new tires. They have plenty of tread, they are just really old (1992 DOT date code, YIKES!). That's not an issue though since I was planning to switch from the factory 16" wheels (which are in excellent condition) to the original 17x8 wheels from my '99 Mustang Cobra anyway and I'll probably go with Nitto NT555 G2s in size 255/50ZR17.   I also plan to eventually swap the air ride out for a ride height adjustable coil-over setup since these cars are basically the same underneath as a Fox body Mustang with the exception of a longer wheelbase and all of the suspension bits available for a Fox Mustang can be made to work.   I've always wanted one of these and almost bought a 1988 black Mark VII LSC in 1989 but decided on a new '89 Thunderbird SC instead. I just couldn't pass this one up since it's in really good condition and the price is lower than I expected.

I don't think BS will draw large numbers of Escape owners/buyers either. Escape owners (like me) are more interested in on road functionality/utility as opposed to off-road chops. There are several articles talking about the new C2 based SUV that will be sold alongside Europe's Kuga (apparently the Kuga isn't going away). This article speculates that it may find it's way to North America via Mexico:   https://motorillustrated.com/ford-to-launch-new-focus-sized-suv-in-2027-in-europe/162548/   I think this may be what Ford hinted at in the marketing e-mail I got ("Enjoying your hybrid Escape or Corsair? Stay tuned."). A BS can't fill the Corsair shoes but this maybe could.

I don't think so.  Let's assume I was a buyer for a fleet that purchased Ford trucks from F-150's up through F-750's.  If Ford were to drop the 650 and 750 models, I would likely turn to International, Mack, or Freightliner for class 6 and 7 medium duty trucks.  Remember those companies don't manufacture class 1 through 5 trucks, so in all likelyhood I would stay with Ford for the lighter models.  If the fleet was hell-bent on having one make of truck on the property I guess they could go to Chevy, but their biggest medium duty conventional is the Silverado 6500 which is the equivalent of the Super Duty F-600.  Chevy dealers do sell their version of the Cummins powered Isuzu FTR/FVR as the LCF 6500/7500.  That's a very good medium duty truck but it is expensive.   Remember Ram does very well and they don't offer anything bigger than the Ram 5500.  In fact, Ram usually beats Ford in class 4 and 5 commercial truck sales.   My understanding is Ford has committed to the UAW to keep the medium duty line open at Avon Lake until April of 2028.  

I understand perfectly but Ford North America paid for Bronco, so that was their first choice above having Everest which would be internal competition- the logic us every sale of Everest would be one less Bronco or worse, eat into Explorer sales?

Fascinating.  Thanks for posting.

I agree but that’s limited to truck buyers.  And you’re ignoring the initial comment I was responding to which said things like large trucks and school buses with Ford logos would sell passenger vehicles.   Its almost a moot point without a full lineup of vehicles to choose from.

Not surprising with the EV Truck market not growing as expected. Couple that with apparent financial struggles for the parent company. 

I meant to post this last night, but apparently I fell asleep in the process.   I don’t agree with your definition of brand loyalty.  IMO, NASCAR is not a good example, as NASCAR has made an effort to de-emphasize the brands and there really is no tie to production cars anymore.  You can hardly find the manufacturer logos on the cars now. I would not mind if they dropped out of NASCAR and focused on other forms of racing where the fact that it is a Ford product is emphasized.     DeluxeStang made some valid points regarding Ford’s that people love.  More specifically, there is most definitely brand loyalty when it comes to trucks.     Virtually every friend and family member I have has a truck, and their trucks consist of various  brands.  Every one of them is brand loyal.  My Ford truck friends don’t consider other brands when buying new trucks, and I would wager that is the case with a large majority of Ford truck buyers.     In respect to the general commodity car buyer perhaps not, but those that are already buying Ford’s they are passionate about are likely inclined to buy other Fords in addition to the specific model they have.    

But the second part of my argument is look at the automotive landscape decades ago compared to now. If you were a 20 yr old car enthusiast in 1997, you had all sorts of sport cars, coupes, hatchbacks, sedans, and trucks to choose from. These days, how many options for a new somewhat affordable sporty car do young enthusiasts really have?   You have the Miata, which is great, but it's the size of the shoebox. Then you have the gr86 which is the size of a shoebox, and has motor reliability issues that scare people away. Then you have the mustang Ecoboost which is solid, but dealers load them with options so they're 45 grand, and you have to deal with all the idiots who don't respect anything that isn't a V8 muscle car.    The options for affordable fun new cars are limited as hell right now, and all of them have some sort of downsides, super small size, reliability issues, perception and reputation issues within the car community, etc.