Both valid points RMC523 and Sherminator, Whats happened this year with other external forces on all domestic auto manufacturers is probably weighing heavily, the need to keep strong profits coming from ICE sales but also  with Ford, aluminum  land impending chip shortages to name a few….a lot of noise with the mainstream business.   CE1 offers a new BEV with a more economic build process and an  opportunity to show buyers something more affordable that isn’t too gigantic in statue or price. Maybe  this new pickup is the perfect counterpoint for Tesla Y and 3, something completely different that hits the mark with more North American buyers?

From today's Detroit News (paywall):   "Ford Motor Co.'s racing division will launch its highly anticipated 2026 season in January during the Detroit Auto Show, featuring a sneak peek at a new Ford Racing production road car and Red Bull's Formula 1 teams that are returning Ford to F1 after a 22-year hiatus.  Ford's Michigan Central Station will host the invite-only event on Jan. 15 that will be livestreamed on its website. The Detroit Auto Show at the Huntington Place conference center about two miles from the former train depot kicks off Jan. 14 with media and industry days and the Charity Preview followed by the consumer show running Jan. 17-25.   The event will feature race car drivers, employees, dealers, media team owners and fans with content stretching from NASCAR to Mustang endurance sports car racing and off-road teams. Additionally, there'll be more information on Ford's hypercar debut in 2027. The new Ford Racing road car also will demonstrate how the company is integrating innovations in racing to its products, the company said."

So if you don't believe it's a new halo supercar, what do you believe it is? All Ford said was it's an all new road performance car. Ford's been known to stretch the definition of all new quite a bit, so maybe it's a gt 500, or that modified GTD we saw running around. Most of us wouldn't considered a more extreme GTD all new, but ford might. 

I am getting whiplash from the annual change in company strategy at Ford...

I hope not. Ford can't even get the product planning fundamentals right at this moment in time. They don't need any other "passion" projects right now.

IMO it all boils down to affordability with EVs   If Ford can make the T3 and sell it for lets say $50-60K decently equipped with about 300 miles of range, I think a lot of the concerns that people have about EVs will go away or not have as much pressure with people buying them.    That is going to be the issue with EV adaption-pricing and being able to charge easily. Ford is providing chargers or what providing them with the Mach E and Lightning and I think they might have been subsidizing the installation costs to a point. As for the BOC plant, I'm sure that plan B or C is to add some sort of EREV production if needed to keep it busy

I seriously doubt...its people just reading into things to make news and get paid by idiots clicking adverts. 

It might also not even be the truck, but another model entirely. Time will tell. It didn't have lights, so I'm skeptical about that being a finished design. 

https://www.theautopian.com/is-ford-building-a-new-gt/   That's the theory people are running with in this article. Whatever it is, there's apparently some sort of all new sports car/ super car model that's gonna be revealed at their motorsports event on January 15th.    I don't want to get my hopes up too much, but if something is coming, be it a new mustang model, a gt, this off-road supercar, whatever it is, that's exciting. 

Yea, exactly. Sure, the Commies act like Commies in Red China. But the bottom line is what you mentioned: Chinese EV tech is world-class. Americans and Europeans can complain all we want about "subsidized by the CCP", but that ain't going to do jack shit to dent China's technological lead.   No tariff, export/import ban, or any other government action will prevent them Chinese from delivering products and services that fulfill American and European EV customer desires. If European and American automakers are to clinch those customers, there's no substitute for innovation and great design.   Ford's head honcho said about competition from BYD for example, The only way we can beat it was with innovation