Chariot Archer and Hand-Axe should upgrade to Crossbowman

I was taking a look at the online Civilopedia lately, reading up in preparation to buying Brave New World, and I noticed that the Hand-Axe upgrades to the Knight. I found this to be extremely nonsensical, because not only are Hand-Axes not mounted, they are a Ranged unit, so upgrading to the Knight just seems to make them a weaker alternative, for those civilizations with access to them (Germany).

Now, I realise that the Hand-Axe is the Barbarians' version of the Chariot Archer, but when you think about it, the Chariot Archer shouldn't upgrade to the Knight either. Having a ranged unit become a melee unit only weakens them as an option, as some Promotions become useless if they are upgraded (something which I got to experience first-hand in a game as Korea, where I managed to get a super experienced Chariot Archer, which got gimped when I finally had to upgrade it). They require Horses, yes, but they aren't really a "mounted" unit, something which the Horseman is, and that unit already upgrades to the Knight.

So, in the interests of strengthening the Chariot Archer, and all its variations, it should upgrade to the Crossbowman, rather than the Knight. This would allow any promotions the unit had gained as a Chariot Archer have full effect to the end of the game, especially now that the Bazooka unit exists.

What do you guys think about this proposition?

It's the problem as old as the game itself. Changing upgrade paths doesn't fix the promotions as there are uniques (i.e. Camel Archers). There should be some changes in promotion themselves so they are transferred between ranged and melee back and forth.

Hmm, that's true. And this reminds me of a possible solution I was thinking about to this problem. What if, when we upgrade a unit, all promotions that the previous unit could have acquired via experience, were immediately exchanged, and you could choose new promotions, following the usual paths for promotions for the unit? That way, unique promotions that the unit had acquired stayed on the new unit, and the lvl-ups that were used for an instant heal wouldn't count when choosing new promotions.

Chariot archer should go to Crossbow
Keshik/Camel Archer should go to Gatling Guns

(And lancers should go to either landships or GW Infantry)
AT guns should use the helicopter promotions.

I don't understand why they don't just cut the Gordian knot and have promotions transform into their counterparts when a unit is upgraded. It randomly hoses certain upgrade paths in a fashion that feels accidental. If chariot archers are too good or something, mess with chariot archers; having your promotions rendered useless is pretty feel-bad.