Ford has forgotten who the customers are

[jhud042002]

My town is about 15k population and total with surrounding area about 40k. I was order #1 for a Maverick hybrid on 9/8 got my ship notice 12/1 . Not 1 email from Ford but my small town dealer gave me my vin and locked in 1.9% financing within about 1 week of ordering and even told me I had a build date of 11/8 window stick date 11/17 and 11/26 at bottom. Might get it around 12/20 so is that a long wait, not really.

This is the kind of dealer I like. Waiting time is irrelevant due to EPA, factory starting up in Sept, and OKTB wait. I got nothing to bitch about. The Ford model is fine. My dealer is running short on F150's and other Ford Trucks. Seems like a pretty normal thing now days. Good luck finding what you want when you walk onto a lot.

Yet my small town dealer can't get 1 schedule for production. Shitshow.

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[Mymaverick2021]

Ford kicked itself in the butt by initiating a retail order scheme and then fudging it up royally. I would never order this way in future. Would you? And don't blame it on supply or the pandemic!

Their claim to fame on buying online is you get what you want not what they think you want. Therefore paying what you want not what you have to!!

 

[jhud042002]

Allocating by order date only would make everyone have to wait longer in a market where there is a raw material shortage. From what I can tell, it seems Ford is building vehicles based on what materials they are able to get. So if someone orders a truck in June that will require materials that aren't available at the start of production, everyone who ordered after them has to wait? That's both unfair, and bad for business. "First come first serve" would work fine in a world where Ford has all the materials they need to build every truck readily available but even then it doesn't make logistical sense. It makes more sense to build similar vehicles in batches for efficiency purposes even if there isn't a shortage of materials.

The wining on here is getting unbearable.

So you're telling my July 7 xlt hybrid (opted for the drop in) should have been built by now? I mean, nothing is constrained on my build.

 

[jhud042002]

You think that would make sense logistically and parts wise, but there's no way Ford would be that smart. For them, it's "let use our unicorn method" and see what happens.

 

[Mymaverick2021]

For me it came down to my money. I called three local dealers and asked if they could match Chapman’s offer. They all said that they couldn’t. I would have gone with them had any matched the price. They didn’t even counter, I would have considered something close. Bottom line is that I work for my money and I would rather pay as little as possible and keep the rest. Simple family economics. If any of the local dealers had offered what Chapman did, they would have sold hundreds just like Chapman. I drove 3 hours round trip and I would every day to save almost $2400. Worked for me.

By looking at your truck in Alto Bule I must say that the $390 I paid for the color upgrade it's worth every pennie!!! As I've yet to lay eyes on it this is the next best thing

 

[tonyinsd]

it's still in my opinion is not right that small mom and pop dealerships are not getting no allocations at all that's what I would like the answer to why are they not getting no allocations at all thank you

Money. Would you rather make the people who move the most product happy or those who do their best but just can't move as much?

You know the answer as well as I do.

 

[JKinPA]

By looking at your truck in Alto Bule I must say that the $390 I paid for the color upgrade it's worth every pennie!!! As I've yet to lay eyes on it this is the next best thing

It’s nice, very nice. My Mav gets a lot of attention every where that I go.

 

[DryHeat]

I ordered from a small dealer in a very small town.

Back when @fordvideoguy was saying he had allocations for about 25% of his orders, my dealer also had allocations for about 25% of his orders. I haven't checked his numbers since then.

I don't know how it usually works. Maybe my dealer was just lucky. But I didn't seem to be any worse off going with him than folks were who went with big dealers.

 

[JibbersCrabst]

So you're telling my July 7 xlt hybrid (opted for the drop in) should have been built by now? I mean, nothing is constrained on my build.

Uh, Hybrid...

 

[JibbersCrabst]

No you are being argumentative and too literal. Each dealer was only supposed to be able to order 1 vehicle according to the originally publicized plan, but clearly they deviated from that plan. Many dealers have gotten many more than 1 vehicle and they weren't all customer orders that were cancelled. You can tell by the VIN numbers.

Chill man, just having a discussion.

 

[Lone Star Proud]

It makes more sense to ship in bulk. Sending 100 vehicles to a city that has 3 large dealerships is easier than sending 6 vehicles to a small dealer in a small town.

Keep in mind these are shipped by rail out of mexico.
I used to be a train dispatcher and a locomotive engineer before that, so I‘ve had my fair share of vehicle trains.

They are going to have to ship those six units sooner or later, efficiently or not.

 

[brnpttmn]

They are going to have to ship those six units sooner or later, efficiently or not.

But if they wait for when they can produce an extra 2 units and fill out a rail car or transporter it's worth it. Especially when you multiply that by hundreds or thousands.

 

[Bono7]

I suggest that Ford rethink the dealer allocation system if they want to operate in a Customer Build retail world, The only ones that benefit are the large dealers and the folks that place the order via the small town Mom and Pop dealer has to wait. They need to allocate based on order date - the big dealers will still make a fortune but the smaller dealer will still have a chance to fulfill orders in a timely fashion. Whatever ever happened to first come - first served. I purchased (ordered) two new Fords this year and the Maverick ordered in July has not been assigned a delivery date. Let’s let Ford know what we think of their system. Agree or disagree that is up to you but please input your thoughts in this thread. Hopefully someone like @fordvideoguy can direct the brand manager to this thread.

Nobody really seems to have any idea how Ford is actually allocating vehicles. Both dealers and customers are trying to work the system. I would say that there needs to be a better process that is well explained by Ford.

First, customer orders should take priority over dealer orders always. Customers must be verified and pay some kind of non-refundable deposit to secure their order to avoid mass cancellations and people just putting in orders to get ahead of inventory problems. Only one vehicle per customer should be able to ordered when their is limited production capacity. Existing loyal Ford customer should be shown some loyalty and receive priority in the ordering process.

Dealers should get early vehicles which can not be sold so customers can see them and get an idea of what they will be ordering. After the initial rush, these vehicles can be sold by dealers and the financials should work out so that dealers are not penalized for this. Dealers should be incentivized to get as many orders as possible by Ford. After the initial rush, dealers should be able to order and stock as many vehicles as they want and sell them for whatever prices they want. This should only be for people who like to just go into a dealer and walk out with a car. Anyone wanting to order a specific configuration should be able to do so easily so long as the vehicles are in production. These vehicles should always take priority over dealer stock orders.

Long gone should be the days of Ford and dealers colluding to drive up prices of vehicles and make dealers big profits. Dealers order vehicles with options that boost their profits, not necessarily what consumers are looking for if they got to pick exact options. Dealers should be concentrating on reaching out to customers and getting them to order vehicles to make money through Ford incentives. They should also all be looking at how they run their service and parts departments to gain loyal customers.

The automotive industry rightfully has a very shady reputation and it is up to big manufacturers like Ford to fix the problems they are largely responsible for creating. I would be fine if Ford challenged the dealer model and sued States to allow them to sell direct to the public through their own company owned stores. Small dealers will still have a place in this new system especially in rural areas by providing great service.

I suggest that Ford rethink the dealer allocation system if they want to operate in a Customer Build retail world, The only ones that benefit are the large dealers and the folks that place the order via the small town Mom and Pop dealer has to wait. They need to allocate based on order date - the big dealers will still make a fortune but the smaller dealer will still have a chance to fulfill orders in a timely fashion. Whatever ever happened to first come - first served. I purchased (ordered) two new Fords this year and the Maverick ordered in July has not been assigned a delivery date. Let’s let Ford know what we think of their system. Agree or disagree that is up to you but please input your thoughts in this thread. Hopefully someone like @fordvideoguy can direct the brand manager to this thread.

 

[Lone Star Proud]

But if they wait for when they can produce an extra 2 units and fill out a rail car or transporter it's worth it. Especially when you multiply that by hundreds or thousands.

They are charging almost $1,500 for shipping to each of us. They can manage.

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