When this generation came out in 2020, the seats and 14 speaker B&O were in a separate Technology package, along with the larger touchscreen. The sunroof was a stand-alone option on the ST. So it is nothing new. I can definitely see that the seats would not be wanted by everybody and just adds extra cost. Saving a few thousand over a fully loaded ST might sway some people to spend a little more to jump up to an ST. And the more parts that can be used from the standard parts bin, such as the key fob, the more Ford saves. Unfortunately, these small changes toward the mainstream take away from the exclusivity of the ST.
Somebody told me that at least one of the Japanese automakers uses the same strategy where they remove features from year to year in order to save money, but keep the price the same to make it look like the prices are not going up.