Yeah I thought I remember that, but I think that was more or less the companies leaderships being hardheads with one another, if one is facing a major crisis, they'll be more amenable to merging or the like. 

Given what I've been seeing on my end, I'm not sure China will be an issue in the next 5-10 years.    If they decide to go after Taiwan in the next few years, everything is off. If they don't, they are in the mist of a demographic collapse that other countries are going to be facing shortly afterwards-that is my bigger worry. The world is getting older and we are going to have more people near retirement/retired then in the work force.  

Apparently the Mach E is going away. The current rumor is that it will be replaced by an ICE/Hybrid CUV Mustang that I would guess would be the spiritual successor to the Edge in size and price.    That is why I'm theory crafting that the S650 might get a significant upgrade before the end of the decade or who knows maybe Ford will go look at CD6 again and give it a major working over so the Explorer, Mustang Coupe and CUV all share it? That would make even more sense IMO.  

Just imagine the backlash should Ford move Mustang production outside the United States! Ford couldn't be that stupid, then again, it's Ford. How many years now has Flat Rock been in limbo because of plant restrictions, yet Ford continuously teases plans for upgrades. 

Honda and Nissan already had an agreement that fell apart about a year ago.

Wouldn't an "EV Mustang sedan" be essentially the next gen Mustang Mach E in everything but name only? Yes the form factor would go from CUV to sedan, but it doesn't seem such a stretch to consider the vehicle in these terms.

With BEVs, the charging infrastructure just needs to improve. Right now the experience varies depending on what area you live in. Maverick looks like a good option, though not as affordable as it used to be. Car owners and CUV owners seem to love it.

Ford 2025 total net profit (post-tax): -$8.2B (loss) Toyota 2025 total net profit (post-tax): $31.2B (gained)

Either way, that won’t be happening until 2029….. Well, Ford says that but if E Transit sales absolutely  crater, it could be gone sooner… E Transit sales collapsed in 2025 to 5,186 that’s down 58.9% from 2024 sales of 12,610… the bell ringer for me was Q4 sales, 582.

Daihatsu and Hino are Toyota brands, and they make around 800,000 Tacoma/HiLux pickups a year and several vans that Ford has no competitor for. Traton is VW Group's truck builders and they build hundreds of thousands of vans, including the Transit Connect for Ford. Hino builds a full line of real trucks that eclipse Ford's limited offerings as does MAN's and VW's own truck brands. And Scania is the world's best truck, revered by even diehard Mack fans.