🛑 Dealer Memo: Ford Will Suspend New Maverick Ordering Until This Summer

[JASmith]

I know it's trendy and commonplace to bash dealers and Ford here. But I wish people would stop to think of the supply chain situation the world is in right now and think about all the people affected.

Ford workers will be laid off/furloughed/not hired while there is a shortage of parts.
Parts suppliers will do the same.
Shippers/logistics/truckers will have fewer loads.
Car dealerships lay off salespeople and support staff.

Stop and really think about what you just wrote though.

Ford and dealerships are laying off the "little people", while their profits continue to climb due to high profit margins with lower overheads. Consumers are paying much higher prices. Everyone but the top brass at Ford and the dealership owners loses, so why wouldn't people bash dealers and Ford?

The current status quo is good for the very few and bad for the many, and stands criticism. According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, the average U.S. dealership recorded a net pretax profit of about $3.4 million in October alone, 213% higher than October 2019 pre-pandemic shortages. Likewise William Clay Ford Jr received $13,947,263 in compensation from Ford and is rapidly increasing his ownership of Ford and Ford stocks have topped $20 a first since Sept 2001, so you really don't need to feel bad for them.

The guys "in the club" are high-fiving all the way to the bank, but you and I aren't in that club and so should be complaining about the current system that sees us paying top dollar to stand in long queues.

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[shark978]

I mean, to be fair, most of what we're going on is anecdote. The store shelves around me are decidedly not empty. Yes, there's a supply chain issue that's slowing some things down. People have a ton of money and there's not enough product to go around to satisfy every American's urgent need to have stuff immediately. Myself included. But manufacturers are going at breakneck pace to alleviate that, unemployment at 3.9%. Not exactly a doom-and-gloom scenario and almost certainly not something that "never had to happen". It's the economy. It happens.

I've been alive for a long time and "this" has pretty much never happened.

"This" being vehicle prices practically doubling in like a year before my eyes, it being impossible to get new cars off the lot, empty car dealers etc.

 

[Oliver]

I order mine two weeks ago, called yesterday and they said order still stands!!

 

[Crispy]

My dealer said their ordering system is up until Thursday morning.

Of course, my guy put mine in without the Luxury package so they've got to change that.

We'll see...

 

[Turtle]

I know it's trendy and commonplace to bash dealers and Ford here. But I wish people would stop to think of the supply chain situation the world is in right now and think about all the people affected.

Ford workers will be laid off/furloughed/not hired while there is a shortage of parts.
Parts suppliers will do the same.
Shippers/logistics/truckers will have fewer loads.
Car dealerships lay off salespeople and support staff.
I am just touching on a few sectors pertinent to the topic, let alone all the others affected.

Please explain to me why if your statement is true that all these companies are screaming for people.

 

[FriscoTXJoe]

Please explain to me why if your statement is true that all these companies are screaming for people.

Just to play along and this will be my only response.

Please explain to me where "all these companies" are screaming for people .

Why do people love to argue on the internet so much ? Jeez , this is the one forum we all can bond over. Go to Reddit, Twitter or FB and play overlord with someone else.

 

[Egz]

Maybe add some domestic capacity at the plants that are slow in the US. They did it for other vehicles in the past.

I'm not really sure they can at that price point to be honest, I'm sure the margins on the Maverick, especially the lower trim levels aren't great but add in the cost of labor in the US and they probably disappear.

Not only labor, but also the Maverick specific manufacturing robotics and machinery that's installed in the plant in Mexico. Contracting, duplicating, and installing that in two separate plants in two different locations can't possibly be cost effective.

And if they could get a domestic plant spun up with the correct machining and robots to produce Mavericks at a reasonable price point, there might just be not enough parts available to support 2 lines.

 

[Decayed]

As of about a week ago ford stock was at an all time high going back to 1972. They were due for a correction. It will probably go down more, maybe a lot more.

 

[TheRef]

So 2022 Maverick totals should be finished on 1/28 Friday - let's feel blessed we got one!! Will be interesting to see how many made/sold?

 

[Turtle]

Just to play along and this will be my only response.

Please explain to me where "all these companies" are screaming for people .

Why do people love to argue on the internet so much ? Jeez , this is the one forum we all can bond over. Go to Reddit, Twitter or FB and play overlord with someone else.

As an example FORD has 608 career openings. J.B. Hunt is offering a 10K sign on bonus for CDL drivers and the federal government has acknowledged the shortage of drivers / considered using the National Guard. Unemployment is 3.5% - lowest in many, many years. This concludes the discussion for me.

 

[Turtle]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/01/25/semiconductor-shortage-inventory-2022-chips/

 

[2cafn8d]

Where I work, we build Electro-Optical Surveillance systems used by the government and private companies. We are having trouble getting boards and other components. Long lead times (like a year plus), however we are busy none the less.

Lots of places near me desperately hiring. Noticably less big trucks on the road. This world is crazy weird right now.

 

[RichApple]

I actually think this is a good move on Ford's part. The life planning for a much needed vehicle, 6 months - 9 months out from expectations, is pretty hard to manage and breads customer discontent with a product that they should be thrilled to have ordered. Painful in many respects, but I far more appreciate the 'real' picture and real expectations rather than over promise and under deliver. I just hope the final product is quality first..the rest is expectation management.

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