FWIW, I see a lot of Escalades and Yukon Denalis in livery service.  The Navigator is not so well represented in the black car trade.

Well This is subjective, I am on the team that doesn’t like the new front end, it looks really weird IMO, I prefer the old model exterior

Could it be that the Escalade is a better looking vehicle-at least in my opinion.

Because the factory is at capacity and Ford has chosen not to expand production until last year when they decided to add SD to Oakville.  Adding a factory is a lot of overhead if you can’t run it for at least two shifts.  GM is much better at having sufficient factory capacity.  Ford tries to squeak by with the bare minimum and it hurts them frequently not being able to meet demand.

It adds up perfectly if you look at it financially and not technically or from a consumer standpoint.  It’s not an excuse - that’s just the business decision they made.  If they’re selling all they can make at high ATPs then it doesn’t make sense to invest in those upgrades from a financial standpoint.  It’s a zero sum game so whatever they save on Navi they can invest in other products.  Obviously as a consumer and Ford fan it’s frustrating but the business decision makes sense.

Thinking that other "legacy" manufacturers could tie in with Generac or others to offer the "solar aspect".    https://www.generac.com/solar-battery-storage/how-pwrcell-works/

But why does it have to come  at the expense of other products? Ford has a lot of plants that are under capacity, the problem is that they never wanted to focus on the segment and have never really invested on it.   Also, I am sorry but I had read this same speech that making the Navi better, increasing sales as a result, would impact Expy or SD for more than 10 years, heck, even when I was at the university (and that was a looong time ago) and visiting Ford Inside News! Does Ford really don’t have any capacity to change this in a decade?    I have read that the Escalade makes GM a lot of profit, why it isn’t the case for Ford?    Of course winning comparisons translates into sales but it helps a bit, if not, why is Lincoln promoting that the Nautilus was MT Suv of 2024?  Also take into account that the Navi invented the segment and was the leader until Ford stop caring.   As others members have said, I just want the Navi to be great, not good enough.

Won't be buying an Explorer or (I presume) Aviator now. a $60K+ vehicle and there is no sun/moon roof? Inexcusable. Having been raised in a Ford family my entire 35 year life, they just keep pushing me away from their current product. It's like this company is TRYING to go out of business...

No argument to that as its all sound, but Then why even submit the vehicle to a comparison test if in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter? I could be wrong, but to me, if you offered a product that meets or exceeds the other options, then the customer base will increase, mitigating any profit loss from r&d.  Yes, gm has more to work with, but that didnt stop jeep, which had absolutely nothing but a ram 1500 chassis.  Lexus lx has a low take rate and volume, but that didnt stop them, same with infiniti.  Why are we excusing ford?  Again, its one thing if all those reasons were correct, but then why increase the price of the product?  Its not adding up is all I'm saying.  I just want the nav to be great, not good enough, and throughout its lifestyle, it seems lincoln and ford improve greatly on the product but cut corners that prevent it from reaching its full potential(gens 2 and 4), then the following generation, throw all that out the window with a product thats feels inferior to the previous one(gen 3 and 5).

True, but Ford's 'heavy' truck sales have been on a downward trend for the last couple of years.  Some of their recent product decisions (no air brakes on gas engine models, no diesel sales in CARB states) seem to be having an effect.