I have not been in a 2025, but, I have been in a 2020 ST, and can say that I was not impressed with the dash styling or quality. 2025 looks better in the video reviews I have seen and material quality seems to have been improved, but I hate that they are removing buttons requiring the use of the touchscreen.   I agree that color choices for the interior are lacking, but Ford does not seem to have much issue selling them so far!   But hey, it is a free country, you can buy what you want!!

Much of the problems with Ford’s vehicles are its own making, look how quickly Maverick was developed when the need for a “gap filler” product was recognised and pursued with the right attitude.   I hope that the same sort of mission statements were applied to certain other vehicles, the long time period to market is what kills a lot of opportunity but the right people can speed this up.

The Bantam was based in the Fiesta and restricted to a single cab vehicle, so the appeal was limited and never sold outside of Southern Africa.

Easy, Ford is very successful and profitable in the largest segments of the commercial vehicle markets.    

fingers crossed it works

honestly I do wonder if ROW is hesitant to add Maverick because of that, in a similar fashion to how NA was hesitant to add the current form Ranger to potentially affect F-150 sales.   At least in our market, we’ve seen it hasn’t had an affect on F-150 sales, but obviously has been affected by Maverick.  But as pointed out above, there are other factors involved (factory utilization is a big one).

They know they need affordable vehicles to grow.  Problem before was the existing platforms were still too expensive to really compete and they had to fund model E investments.  CE1 is giving them the opportunity to reset on platform costs and invest in BEVs at the same time.  And they're applying that strategy to new ICE vehicles.  

Before I put my two cents in here, I’m going to preface this by saying I know no one at Ford is probably going to read this, and if they do they probably won’t care but I just had to get this off my chest. The 2025 Explorer redesign is atrocious. This sounds harsh, but I’ll explain. I am specifically talking about the interior- I actually don’t mind the exterior and I think that the exterior is keeping on trend with what we are seeing in the Explorer’s competition. The interior, however, needs some serious help. I have been a true fan of Ford since I can remember (I am currently 25). I am in the process of doing a ground-up restoration of a 1977 Ford F-250, I have had a couple of Escapes which I loved, and up until recently I owned a 2020 Ford Explorer Platinum which I also really loved. The interior of my 2020 Explorer Platinum was gorgeous, cream leather seats with a brown leather dash and high-end looking finishes. It felt very luxurious and inviting. I decided I wanted a new vehicle I didn’t even hesitate on wanting a new Explorer, I didn’t consider looking at anything else. Upon going to the dealership and looking at the 2025 Ford Explorer Platinum, I left the dealership feeling very lost. I sat in a Platinum with each new interior color. The Space Crystal grey felt very stark, cold, and uninviting and the Mojave Dusk color didn’t feel luxurious, it felt cheap. I understand wanting a competitive edge, but I don’t know that odd interior colors is the answer. The dash was another issue. The infotainment system was fine, but the finishes on the dash felt like they were picked for a cheap DIY remodel of a dental office. The seemingly thin carpet-like material along with the chintzy patterned black plastic is not a good combination. What happened to the leather dash of the previous generation? It feels like there was a lot of cost cutting while making this design but somehow while also raising the MSRP price. My final tiff with Ford is the trim levels. It feels as if Ford is trying to simplify the assembly process or something (another cost cutting strategy I’m sure) by offering similar trim levels. Currently there is the Active, the ST Line, the ST, the Tremor, and the Platinum. All of which lean towards a sporty feel, other than the Platinum and certain Actives. These changes led me to go looking elsewhere for a vehicle, something I have never done before and it felt like a very daunting task. I ended up purchasing a 2026 Buick Enclave Preferred, which is their lowest trim level, and it still feels miles more luxurious than the new Ford Explorer Platinum.    On a positive note, I do appreciate the Explorer still offering a V6 in certain trims. I had a V6 in my 2020 Explorer and it is the only thing I’m missing in my Buick Enclave.

Ford made and sold the Bantam in South Africa until 2011....discontinued yet Ranger still soldiers on....