Dealer Insight Into Delays: Hybrid / Co-Pilot 360 / Luxury Package / Spray-In Bedliner (by Tim Bartz)

[schum173]

Thanks. Havent had a chance to watch the video yet.

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[Michaelkov]

I wonder how many chips are in a spray in bedliner?

I don't really care for chips anyway...I wonder if you can change out for fries?

 

[coxwm2]

I wonder if any of the First Editions will get pushed because of this... would be a little weird to have a 'First Edition' be a 2nd Model Year.

Didn't have a chance to listen to Tim's "Tech Tuesday" last night, but am listening now. Tim did say in his broadcast that all First Editions will be built, as they can only be built as MY22. That is good news for those that ordered the FE prior to the cutoff. I ordered the FE Hybrid on 6/15, confirmed with email from Ford, with all the constraints (SIBL, Co-Pilot 360, Rapid Red, etc). After listening to Tim's broadcast, he did say that the FE Hybrid's should be pulled ahead of other packages due to the FE package. So, hopefully that is good news that holds true going forward.

 

[Naranjita]

Didn't have a chance to listen to Tim's "Tech Tuesday" last night, but am listening now. Tim did say in his broadcast that all First Editions will be built, as they can only be built as MY22. That is good news for those that ordered the FE prior to the cutoff. I ordered the FE Hybrid on 6/15, confirmed with email from Ford, with all the constraints (SIBL, Co-Pilot 360, Rapid Red, etc). After listening to Tim's broadcast, he did say that the FE Hybrid's should be pulled ahead of other packages due to the FE package. So, hopefully that is good news that holds true going forward.

Hopefully Ford just moves them to the front of the line now and gets them done in the next few months.

 

[coxwm2]

Hopefully Ford just moves them to the front of the line now and gets them done in the next few months.

That would be nice. Tim didn't come right out and say that, but he did allude to the fact the FE can only be built as MY22, so I continue to patiently wait. Honestly, this is not as bad as the Bronco. My wife has been on a reservation list for over a year, because she will not "settle" for any Bronco, and will only accept what she wants to buy. Her money, her truck. Same with the FE Hybrid. It was ordered to my specifications, and "Settling" is not an option.

Forgot to add, my FE Hybrid is a Priority 2, so it at least being previewed.

 

[nubbuchadnezzar]

Would it kill Ford to actually communicate to those that have orders what the heck is going on? Is it really good business to have something as significant as possibly pushing an order out to the next model year be communicated by one dealers informal website? Thank goodness he does because that's ALL THE INFORMATION WE ARE GETTING. Why are we all having to guess about this? When Ford was launching this model there was all kinds of information coming out to get us interested and to put money down and order. Well now where is that some communication? How hard is it to put an email out saying "We apologize for the delay in your order we are experiencing X and hope to have it resolved in Y"? IF it is a specific shortage how about Ford offering some work a rounds. OR is the lack of communication the real message-Ford doesn't care about your order?

My job involves managing expectations while my organization requires I be as vague as possible.
The main drivers for this from a business perspective are:
* Telling people of major delivery delays up front will prevent orders.
* Getting orders in makes potential revenue appear better, thus making shareholders happier.
* Once customers place orders, they're more likely to hold onto hope since they feel committed.
* People are more likely to tolerate minor delays once they get order confirmations. So, bumping things a few weeks at a time creates smaller pills for customers to swallow.
* If the situation is bad (such as a major chip shortage), the vendor still needs to appear to be in control of the situation, regardless of the factors which are out of their control.

In the end, it comes down to keeping the customers on the line as long as possible. I'm not saying the entire Ford organization believes in this kind of practice, but the directive from above is typically not to give out too much information which is going to just create more headaches for management. Give customers enough information to let them know we're working on it, without promising an exact delivery date until we are 100% certain we have the correct date.

 

[DryHeat]

* People are more likely to tolerate minor delays once they get order confirmations. So, bumping things a few weeks at a time creates smaller pills for customers to swallow.

It seems that Ford has gone the opposite way.

This week, they told many people that their delivery would be bumped three months. I think (hope) they are planning to revise that estimate soon.

The opposite strategy would be to tell people they are facing a 3 month delay, then tell them "Oh, it's only 6 weeks" so that they will think a good thing has happened.

 

[Redneck Garage]

yeah yeah yeah - all this is a Ford induced shortage. Funny they produced 14,636 Bronco Sports in January vs 7842 Mavericks. Sales of 6221 Bronco Sports vs 6513 Mavericks for the month. Seems as if stock units for dealerships of Bronco Sports are certainly a much higher priority over order filling of customer Maverick orders. - Did the double number produced Bronco Sports not have any chips in them ? - uh huh. OK you argue - Ford didn't have all the hybrid parts it needed - ok, then why didnt they build more Ecoboosts ? If SIBL was such a concern for delays Ford could certainly have MANY MONTHS ago had customers opt out of just that feature on Lux trucks. Tim will always put a positive spin on things as he is a Ford vehicle salesman but as a customer and stockholder I find this sad and not honest if we hear "chip shortage" with the number of other vehicles produced at the same plant and same basic platform.

 

[Darnon]

Bronco Sport sales probably would have been closer to the production numbers if not for the fact that they were under a stop sale for the brake recall.

 

[Redneck Garage]

I ordered an XLT Lux, and if Ford contacted me and offered a credit to drop the SIBL and actually get my truck built, I'd do it.

Why would they offer you a credit ? They would just say - uh you will get the truck FASTER if you settle for less than you ordered. With their backlog they will just move to the next order.

 

[Redneck Garage]

Bronco Sport sales probably would have been closer to the production numbers if not for the fact that they were under a stop sale for the brake recall.

But those "sales arent customer ORDERS.

 

[Darnon]

But those "sales arent customer ORDERS.

What's your basis for the assertion that those aren't customer orders? If anything being the front end of the new MY I'd imagine a large percentage were. And Ford is reporting across the lineup 37% of sales were custom order deliveries.

 

[jeffrol48197]

Ford allows orders to be switched to another buyer at purchase than whom original ROVP was. However, they are only allowed so many before they receive allocation penalties.

I was told by dealership order person, if dealer falls below 70% threshold on conversion, they can get allocation cut...just a fyi...

 

[nubbuchadnezzar]

It seems that Ford has gone the opposite way.

This week, they told many people that their delivery would be bumped three months. I think (hope) they are planning to revise that estimate soon.

The opposite strategy would be to tell people they are facing a 3 month delay, then tell them "Oh, it's only 6 weeks" so that they will think a good thing has happened.

Yes. I am quite surprised by the 3 month bump for people. Which I failed to mention in my reply. This makes me wonder if the situation is even worse than a 3 month delay...

 

[Naranjita]

I was told by dealership order person, if dealer falls below 70% threshold on conversion, they can get allocation cut...just a fyi...

Yep, that's what I was referring to. Was uncertain of the details. Thanks for the info.

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