What is Ford doing for its customers

[Speed2000]

What is Ford doing for its customers? Well they designed a vehicle so popular some people are willing to patiently wait over a year for. A vehicle which Ford began developing way before the pandemic and its worldwide effects.

I guess some folks think they are so important that Ford specifically picked them out just to make them mad.

Why can't people consider themselves lucky to have an order confirmation? Those that didn't place an order during the five days the banks were open will have to pay thousands over sticker or wait at least another year just to get in line.

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[Old Hickory Trojan]

Most manufacturers don't carry excess plant capacity; it's way too expensive. Building a new plant takes $8-$10 billion and 2-3 years, not counting time for location scouting, environmental reviews, and permitting. Hermosilla became available for Bronco and Maverick assembly when the Fusion and MKZ models were discontinued.



It isn't about what "Ford wants". It's about what they have inventory to build; what they can build rather than what they want to build. But you're right that they should have the ability to give the customer a chance to modify their order to something that can be built and delivered.

Ford doesn't book orders; the dealers do. Ford then looks at the orders that came in vs. their ability to produce and reconciles them as best they can.

The Maverick launch is reminiscent of the 1964-5 Mustang launch. Orders exceeded Ford's wildest expectations, but the manufacturing process was different then, so the Mustang was being produced by 3 different plants (Metuchen, Dearborn, and San Jose), some of which were producing other models that had little or nothing in common with the Mustang.



Technology doesn't work that way anymore. Most of the chips in modern vehicles are custom designs to fit specific functionality. There are no off-the-shelf alternatives.



There hasn't been empty rail capacity for some time now. Capacity constraints still exist and will likely continue into 2023.



The decision to expand capacity would fall to the C-suite executives and the Board of Directors. It's a strategic decision well beyond the purview of a CPA. But there would be an ROI analysis to determine when, or if, the investment in new capacity would have an acceptable payback period. They would also look at the availability of labor for a new plant.

However, mixing the Maverick or Bronco into another assembly plant building completely different models wouldn't likely be feasible due to the design of the assembly line.

They may have done all that and concluded that the initial demand won't last long enough to recover the costs involved.

I do understand the frustration of those waiting for their Maverick to be built and delivered. It's why I thank my lucky stars I was able to purchase a refused order at MSRP and avoid the whole order process.

The above comments are simply to clarify that there are no simple answers and that Fords options are limited. Customer communications and better order management, however, are not and should be improved using lessons learned from this launch.

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How about lessons learned from all the previous launches before they released the 2022 and then the launch of the 2022? Do you think Ford could have told the dealers how many Mavericks they had allocations for before the order day? Do you thin Ford could have put in place a limiter so that when the order came flying in did a count and shut down taking order when they hit the "magic number. Do you think for could have provided the order book sooner then they did? So many more to mention that screwed this process up I could go on for hours

 

[CTYankee]

When Tesla couldn't build enough cars at their Fremont factory, they put a huge tent up outside and built another assembly line there. I'm sure Ford could do that if they really wanted to...

I found this article about it. Very interesting, but I wonder if Ford would be able to find the expanded labor pool to do something like this. It looks like Tesla also still builds body shells in the plant, then moves them to the tent line for final assembly, but with much more manual labor. That might be impractical at the Maverick price point.

 

[CTYankee]

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How about lessons learned from all the previous launches before they released the 2022 and then the launch of the 2022? Do you think Ford could have told the dealers how many Mavericks they had allocations for before the order day? Do you thin Ford could have put in place a limiter so that when the order came flying in did a count and shut down taking order when they hit the "magic number. Do you think for could have provided the order book sooner then they did? So many more to mention that screwed this process up I could go on for hours

Most manufacturers now work on just-in-time inventory, so they would expect to be able to refresh inventory as orders are built. Any disruption to the flow of parts can stop the assembly line pretty quickly if they can't dynamically reallocate orders. That said, I would expect that shortages should be able to trigger adjustments and flag orders for reconfiguration by the customer so they can be slotted back into the production plan.

Based on videos I've seen here, the development process on the Maverick was pretty compressed. They may have still been tweaking the order book well past when it should have been done and dusted. Not defending them, though after a career in Corporate America it doesn't surprise me all that much.

 

[csuh13]

I found this article about it. Very interesting, but I wonder if Ford would be able to find the expanded labor pool to do something like this. It looks like Tesla also still builds body shells in the plant, then moves them to the tent line for final assembly, but with much more manual labor. That might be impractical at the Maverick price point.

I drive by the Fremont plant on my daily commute. It is insane the amount of vehicles they push out of there every day. Last I checked it was about 10,000 per week.

 

[Old Hickory Trojan]

Most manufacturers now work on just-in-time inventory, so they would expect to be able to refresh inventory as orders are built. Any disruption to the flow of parts can stop the assembly line pretty quickly if they can't dynamically reallocate orders. That said, I would expect that shortages should be able to trigger adjustments and flag orders for reconfiguration by the customer so they can be slotted back into the production plan.

Based on videos I've seen here, the development process on the Maverick was pretty compressed. They may have still been tweaking the order book well past when it should have been done and dusted. Not defending them, though after a career in Corporate America it doesn't surprise me all that much.

I learned a long time ago when I was in supply chain management and planning that if you want some credibility with your customers don't make commitments you can't keep and communicate immediately any changes and be prepared with contingency plans. Ford always seems surprised after the fact. Tell me based upon Hybrid demand why they were so surprised with the orders favoring hybrids over Eco Boosts....the previous demand should have prepared them for that. If they just can't build enough hybrid batteries or engines they had over a year to develop and qualify secondary suppliers or limit the number of orders they would take within that constraint. At least inform potential buyers that this was their build plan quantity and after the customers hit that number all remaining orders will be cancelled or not accepted. Don't frustrate folks for over a year when computer power and software should be able to provide answers. If you cancel too many send them to the dealers and folks will line up to buy them anyways.

 

[OrangeBlue]

This! So much, this!!

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How about lessons learned from all the previous launches before they released the 2022 and then the launch of the 2022? Do you think Ford could have told the dealers how many Mavericks they had allocations for before the order day? Do you thin Ford could have put in place a limiter so that when the order came flying in did a count and shut down taking order when they hit the "magic number. Do you think for could have provided the order book sooner then they did? So many more to mention that screwed this process up I could go on for hours

 

[Impetus19]

Why can't people consider themselves lucky to have an order confirmation? Those that didn't place an order during the five days the banks were open will have to pay thousands over sticker or wait at least another year just to get in line.

There is nothing an order confirmation guarantees you other than maybe you will get a vehicle eventually. If you ordered a hybrid it’s 50/50 that you won’t get one.
I feel more unlucky that i ever got involved with it.

 

[Sikinboat]

Ok I work at a ford plant so a few things.

I 100% agree the launch of the maverick and full size bronco have been terrible still waiting on my maverick ordered 9/17/21 so no special treatment for being a employee. The effects of Covid and then Russia starting a war are causing major supply issues neon gas is needed to make chips and the largest supplier in the world is Ukraine they produce 70% but can’t do that obviously right now. Other suppliers have had issues with getting workers either from sickness which causes downtime or people moving to better job oppertunities there were over 2 million people that retired during Covid which left big holes in the job market. And who wants to work hard in a parts plant if there are less physical jobs that pay the same or more now available

No not feasible to do like Tesla did key word did they learned the hard way setting up a tent to work causes issues Tesla also doesn’t do the quality control the other manufacturers do which is why non Tesla fanboys complain about things on $100k vehicles that body panels rub when you open the hatch.


As far as adding more capacity they are working on it if demand stays up the maveric/bronco sport/ escape share the same platform and can run down same line so we may see more as the escape is only planned to be built through 2025 at the momen could obviously change.

no chips are not a easy to get or change design option there are companies building new plants for chips but takes time and the cost is high 10 billion minimum.

I

 

[AltoBAP]

Ford Motor Company cares only about profit and stock performance.

The employees of Ford care about building and delivering a good product. Unfortunately this must be done within the limitations set by the company.

The Maverick is ultra low profit - and I'd guess the hybrid models are sold at a loss. Ford only needs to sell enough Mavericks to meet CAFE standards, so they can continue to sell cash cow F-series and SUVs.

Back in the mid 90s when Contour/Mystique were introduced in the US, Ford was losing an average of $1000 on each one they built - but it helped them meet CAFE standards so they could sell trucks which profited $10,000 per unit. I'd guess Maverick is very similar.

The company has no motivation to build more Mavericks than they are currently building.

 

[Old Ranchero]

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How about lessons learned from all the previous launches before they released the 2022 and then the launch of the 2022? Do you think Ford could have told the dealers how many Mavericks they had allocations for before the order day? Do you thin Ford could have put in place a limiter so that when the order came flying in did a count and shut down taking order when they hit the "magic number. Do you think for could have provided the order book sooner then they did? So many more to mention that screwed this process up I could go on for hours

This may be the most clueless post I've ever read on here. Please do some reading to educate yourself on automobile design and manufacturing before embarrassing yourself with further posts like this

 

[Old Ranchero]

I think it's a lack of understanding of what Ford's customer and potential customer base wants and the problem just isn't with Ford. Management and those with their eyes on company finances do not have foresight by their nature... they react to the market instead of setting the market. No surprise that the Maverick sells like hotcakes and they can't make enough. Base model around $22,000 with a high economy powertrain and four doors plus a box and its no wonder why they can't make enough as that is what most of us want. We don't want or can't afford a full size truck and since you Ford have all but left the car market by choice (profit) is this success to much of a puzzle for anyone to figure out... no duh. Quit listening to the bean counters. They will efficiently do their jobs until your out of business or left behind in a changing market.

When I think of management that is on top of what customers really want or sees a segment that has potential the name I always come up with 1st is Lee Iacocca.

$56.00 for a 56' Ford, the Mustang, Pinto, K-car, minivan but then the difference was he was actually an ordinary guy with a working class background. Yeah, he would have got it but then Ford fires people like that. And they did too.

Maybe they will retool another plant but probably not. Shouldn't have closed the St Paul truck assembly but as with the Maverick the production moves out of the country and its more than a trend.

There's no money tree for endless expansion and costs as you suggest here. Read the financial reports and you will understand Ford is bleeding $ in many areas already and survival of the company in down market prohibits carelessly throwing $ at problems regardless of the negative consequences.

 

[Old Ranchero]

When Tesla couldn't build enough cars at their Fremont factory, they put a huge tent up outside and built another assembly line there. I'm sure Ford could do that if they really wanted to...

Actually, the assembly line outside was born of failure, not brilliance. Musk tried to automate nearly the entire assembly process using robot lines. It resulted in cascading problems and eventually he had to abandon his automation plans and reverted to traditional assembly with more human employees involved. The only place available for creating a new assembly line in a pinch was the parking lot. There's lots of articles published about this and very interesting reading.

 

[LSchicago]

Ford does not care how many of us want Mavericks.

It's just a loss leader/showroom traffic builder for them. They can build 600K F series trucks but can't build 100K Mavericks? Added another shift to build Lightnings? Increase Maverick Hybrid production? They won't do it because they don't care.

IT CAN BE DONE, BUT THEY DON'T CARE.

THEY'D RATHER SHIP THEM TO BRAZIL.

FORD SUCKS BIG DONKEY D!C# WHEN IT COMES TO THE MAVERICK.

Rant off.....

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