The point being that Ford went to VW as a way of getting those affordable BEVs that it simply couldn’t do itself. MEBs turned out to be both expensive to make and uninteresting blobs than Ford knows are boring to buyers. There is nothing aspirational in these vehicles and now Ford wants to add ST or RS to them to help push sales… That I believe is the main thrust of the linked article, nothing to do with the coming CE1s.

I filled up at the Murphy Oil at the Walmart in Sapulpa for $2.40/gal for E10/87 earlier this evening. I had a feeling gas prices were falling when I saw the QuikTrips were at $2.79 (QT’s gas prices are usually higher than Snoop Dogg on Willie Nelson’s tour bus).

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/04/tesla-makes-its-cars-lie-about-their-mileage-lawsuit-claims/?comments-page=1#comments    

I think Ford botched the execution with the VW based Capri, and to a lesser extent, the explorer, but the fundamental idea of trying to create more expressive, aspirational EVs itself is a good one. The mach-e is one of the best selling EVs that isn't a Tesla because it stands out from the crowd. If they apply the ST and RS badges to future, entirely Ford EVs, and actually give them better styling and driving dynamics than the competition, that can truly differentiate Ford from it's rivals.    These basic bitch 10k Chinese EVs are gonna dominate the super affordable EV market, not much Ford can do about that. 100 grand EVs with 1,000 hp are also a dime a dozen, and that's such a small market that it's not really worth the investment unless you want to do a high end halo product.    But aspirational, fun, charismatic EVs 25-35 grand with 300 miles of range, and maybe 250-400 hp, that's a market in the EV world that's pretty underserved right now.    I can totally see a market for EVs that are a lot nicer than some 15 grand Chinese shoebox, but a lot more obtainable than a 100k model s. Something that's fun and engaging to drive that doesn't need a 1,000 hp and a mid 2 second 0-60.    If Ford botches the development of these additional EVs, yeah, it's not gonna be great. But they got their ass kicked with Capri. Maybe that experience makes them step back, and reevaluate how to do future nameplates justice instead of making more half assed nostalgia grabs. Ford of Europe fucked up with this new Capri, but Ford of Europe throughout the ages has also given us some of the best historical Ford's ever. 

My parents have owned nothing but Lexus since my Dad replaced his ‘95 Benz (which replaced his ‘92 SC300 - My favorite car he owned).  My dad’s car is his retirement car - an SC430 he’ll never replace. They replace my mom’s GX every 2-3 years. The new GX is light years improved.  That said, Lexus is simply the new Buick. 

I think they did the chart that way to make it look ambiguous, mostly because I doubt they actually  understand the data themselves or want to present it a certain way -does that kinda make sense?  

They defined ultra wealth as having more than $500K household income. That's basically every moderately successful self employed business person. So I'm sure the data is skewed by lots of F-150 and Transit purchases in the name of Schedule C or LLC small business owners. Also, Ford dominates the luxury end of fullsize pickup truck so that also has something to do with it too. 

It’s a little more complex than that, China also contributes to the funding as well but you guys won’t get much push back from me when the world’s biggest polluting country get a virtual pass because cheap Labor and offshoring by global corporation all of Europe and USA’s previous noxious industries. China gets all that value adding dollars yet continues along the path of dirty power…the build up in BEVindustry is their store front window dressing.

Theres been a lot of wrong thinking coming out of Ford Europe that’s put them in a big hole. So no, I wouldn’t consider this an overly smart plan or  anything more than another trim level.

Edit for clarity… That’s great to hear but the point I was making is that adding another sports model like RS/ST when the Mach E has the GT doesn't suddenly bring in loads more BEV sales which is what I suspect  Ford Euro boss wants with ST and RS on Euro models.