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[SteveM]

Sorry, but the argument that Ford is purposely NOT building '23 Mavericks in order to somehow boost profits by NOT running a plant at full capacity, and NOT selling vehicles that generate revenue is just preposterous! They're already invested in the plant in Mexico, and they're already paying the labor force that builds the trucks. Both of those are effectively sunk costs. The only way Ford can maximize their profits (a shareholder mandate) is to build as many Mavericks as possible, ship them as quickly as possible, and deliver them to dealers as quickly as possible. Ford doesn't make any money from ADM the dealer charges, and their price increases are basically in line with inflation.

As to why the auto makers are suffering more from the chip shortages than the cell phone makers, etc. – that one is real simple. When the global pandemic hit, the phone/computer makers realized immediately that "working from home" was going to be a BIG DEAL, and would drive a LOT of upgrades to phones, computers, etc. So they kept their orders intact, or even increased the quantities. The auto makers, on the other hand, assumed that there would be a huge drop-off in auto purchases, so they cancelled chip orders - by the billions. Then, when they realized sales were not plummeting as expected, the re-issued some of the orders (but by no means the full volume), only to find themselves stuck at the back of the line behind Apple, Samsung, LG, etc.

And oh, by the way, those consumer electronics companies were ordering chips by the multiple millions, whereas Ford, Chevy, Honda, Toyota, etc. were ordering a paltry number (a few million chips) by comparison. So when the pandemic hit those chip-fab plants hard, and they had to reduce production because of severe labor shortages, guess which chips they kept producing? (If you guessed "The ones that never got cancelled," you win the prize.) It was easier to keep producing the chips for which they had firm, never cancelled orders, rather than constantly changing the production lines to produce much smaller batches of lower-volume order items. And when they did produce those orders, they waited until they had a batch of them - enough to be worth switching out the fab process - and then ran a batch.

That's why the shortages appear to come and go so much. One week the chips needed for CP-360 functions are suddenly unavailable, and a few weeks later Ford is swimming in them for a month or so, then they're gone again... And it's not just Ford, it's all the auto makers – with the possible exception of Hyundai/Kia, who brought a LOT of their chip manufacturing in-house. They've been far less impacted by "chip shortages" than the other manufacturers, though not completely unscathed by other supply-chain issues.

The entire world's logistics and supply channels are still screwed up from the effects of the pandemic, and it's going to take another 6-12 months for it to completely clear up.

All that said, I completely agree that Ford's customer order process is unbelievably screwed up. I used to be an IT architect, and one of my jobs was to help business people understand how to create accurate requirements documents, so that the systems actually did what the business people needed. In this case, the Ford ordering system is failing the dealers, the end customers, and FoMoCo itself. It's inexcusable. If I were king of the world for a day, either that system would change, or heads would roll...

Thank you. You answered a lot of my questions, and explained some things I didn't understand. I don't think Ford is not building on purpose, but there is no incentive for them to NOT overbook orders. They will still sell the trucks they build, but we could be left hanging out in the wind.

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[SteveM]

If you really need a vehicle then the Maverick is a bad move. It is in extreme demand, low production, parts and chip constraints, dealer markup’s, terrible communication, wacked priority system, wacked allocation system, recall delays, shipping delays, DORAs, smart Vincent, price protection, private offers, rollovers, interest rates, ADMs. Where’s the Tylenol

I don't NEED the vehicle, mine is perfectly fine. When I got this one, I traded a 2003 Cavalier with 253,000 miles. Ford just really did a great job of "selling" me on the Maverick. I fully expected the Maverick to be 6 or 8 months or more.

 

[Chicolini]

I never said anything about expecting it quickly! Not sure where you read that. Yes I did my research, and that is why I placed my order on day one. I would have expected Ford to do their research, and not accept so many orders! Speaking of research, perhaps you could research the difference between your, and you're.

Please enlighten?

Is it Butt Head or Butthead?

Asking for a friend.

 

[abcinv]

If you really need a vehicle then the Maverick is a bad move. It is in extreme demand, low production, parts and chip constraints, dealer markup’s, terrible communication, wacked priority system, wacked allocation system, recall delays, shipping delays, DORAs, smart Vincent, price protection, private offers, rollovers, interest rates, ADMs. Where’s the Tylenol

You just wrapped up my last 14 months in one paragraph, well done!

 

[SLINGSHOT]

I have perfectly good 2017 RAV4 with 36,000 on it. I have a Lariat Lux with both CPs on it on order. If Ford can build me the truck, fine. If a Toyota dealer gets a Cross on the lot and they don't go all greedy, I'll have to look at it.
I like a new car every 3 to 4 years, but the world wide brain fart has me in the same one for over five years!!!! First one to build one that is on my short list makes a sale. The other one can suck eggs.

 

[gte105u]

Well, if someone is going to put words in my mouth, they're going to need to use proper grammar! LOL

 

[PlantMan]

Last February discussions (see @93nighthawk) and info from Ford indicated that all MY22 orders would not get filled. With unfilled scheduled and unscheduled MY22 orders slipping into MY23, I wonder when we'll first see info that all MY23 orders will not get filled.
I'm guessing that rollover hybrid orders will consume production at least thru January, maybe longer. I'm also guessing that fully 50% of MY23 hybrid orders and some Ecoboost orders won't get built and that only 80K total MY23 Mavericks will be built. The factory has plenty of capacity, but not enough parts.

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