OK, maybe I should specify designed and marketed by Chinese companies.  The QC difference between items designed and marketed by Chinese and those that aren't are worlds apart.

Yikes, Ford got rid of its own European engineering team and now wants to outsource small vehicles to other European companies..,,,

Every Xbox, PlayStation, iPhone, Pixel, Dell, Microsoft, Etc are made in China.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/ford-maverick-2026-truck-of-the-year   “Are pickup trucks becoming caricatures of their former selves? They seem to grow larger and heavier with each successive redesign to the point where staircase tailgates are needed just to load them. Swimming against this tsunami is the wee Ford Maverick, a pickup that allows normal-sized human adults to reach in over the side rail and grab items off the bed floor without even standing on tippy-toes. The climb into the bed is manageable without steps, and many tailgate partiers may find their feet resting comfortably on the ground. Revolutionary.”

It's possible it's another stopgap approach similar to the VW deal, allowing them to spread out costs and getting them back in the market until they can develop their own?

Maybe Ford is being a little vague/ misleading here until it gets a clearer picture on USMCA and tariffs on European products. Ford hoping that by 2027-2028 everything to do with tariff rates will be set.

Couple things to consider: A segment is roughly 110-150 inches long   B Segment is 146-165 inches long   They are also narrower then C segment also.   So that being said, once you start making major changes to the passenger crash cell like making it narrower and shorter, your losing cost savings-your better off using something designed to meet that criteria vs modifying C class product. Also i'm going to assume that A/B class uses more cost sensitive/Less complex parts to make it cheaper to build-i.e. things like an independent rear end on a FWD product might be a solid axle on B sized car that wouldn't lend itself well to a more luxurious product.   

I could see a small market with the RV crowd.  It could take the place of the long-gone Smart Car.  People could haul it on the back of their semi pulling a fifth wheel, or it's small enough to fit in a trailer behind a motorhome so you can take other stuff along and still have room for the "car".  Gives you the golf cart size, but with full ability to drive it on the road.

'Before they forced us back to the office my buddy sold his house to his son who had moved from NYC during Covid and bought an RV and spent over a year driving around the country and working remotely.