Communication from corporate - a shift in paradigm

[Delzona]

Many many posts about this Maverick pertain to the timing of the build. You see tons of information and speculation and rumor.
There are many people frustrated as a result.

Launching a brand new vehicle is not an exact science and moresoe with the challenges of materials shortages and logistics issues. Clearly the supply chain is stretched at best. (I do recognize this is an option as well.)

I think that Ford has an opportunity here to elevate the game by being more transparent. This isn’t a criticism, it’s a suggestion. I think that having their marketing staff publish weekly email newsletters would allow customers to appreciate all the moving parts involved here. Most folks, I believe can handle bad news better than no news. Being in the dark is when people tend to spin out of control.

I lead the sales effort for a manufacturer of disinfectant products and last year I created a protocol like this and the feedback was tremendous from my distributor client base. By understanding our challenges and having an idea of timing they were able to make adjustments as needed or keep their customers in the loop.

If Ford established, let’s say a Maverick bulletin and a Bronco version, etc, I think that the overwhelming % of customers would love it and it would foster more loyalty.

I wholeheartedly agree with your statement! Better to have news, good or bad, then no news. In that same vein I've always felt that people in a position of authority (managers, supervisors, CEOs) should make a decision (time will tell if it's good or bad) but make a decision! No decision is the worst thing.

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[dceggert]

I think that a newsletter type of info share would be great.

My biggest pet peeve is Ford's heavy promoting a 40 mpg target, and now getting the Hybrid is an availability issue. I am not impressed is an understatement. All I can say is that this Truck is going to have to be VERY impressive on the test drive for me to go through with the purchase. Also minimal dealer BS is required.

You heard a rumor it was being postponed and jumped all over it, eh?

 

[r100gs91]

You heard a rumor it was being postponed and jumped all over it, eh?

At almost 67 y.o. I can and have learned to read between the lines. This is shaping up to be Big Bronco 2.0 IMO. There is so little info from Ford about keeping us informed of vehicle and accessories fulfillment If they don't know anything that really concerns me.

 

[Tq28tz]

I think that a newsletter type of info share would be great.

My biggest pet peeve is Ford's heavy promoting a 40 mpg target, and now getting the Hybrid is an availability issue. I am not impressed is an understatement. All I can say is that this Truck is going to have to be VERY impressive on the test drive for me to go through with the purchase. Also minimal dealer BS is required.

So if you don’t buy it what else would you get. I drove the Escape hybrid, if it’s even close to driving like that it will be a winner. I ordered the cheapest truck. XL no options, my trailblazer gets 16mpg and needed something with better gas mileage. There is nothing on the market at that price that gets me 37-40 mpg, 21,500, that’s a truck or SUV.

 

[WesM]

I think that a newsletter type of info share would be great.

My biggest pet peeve is Ford's heavy promoting a 40 mpg target, and now getting the Hybrid is an availability issue. I am not impressed is an understatement. All I can say is that this Truck is going to have to be VERY impressive on the test drive for me to go through with the purchase. Also minimal dealer BS is required.

You do realize the truck is not even technically in production yet right? The truck is not supposed to even hit dealers till the fall. After the fall is over, feel free to start complaining about late delivery.

I get being excited about a new truck (I sure am!) but there has to be a level of reasonable expectation that goes beyond "I want my truck now!". Would I have preferred Ford had production all lined up and ready to go before they even announced the truck? Definitely! But thats not how things happened.

As for the original post, keep in mind that this forum represents less than 3% of current Maverick reservations. While Ford could cater to us and probably get a little good press, I kinda doubt its high on their priority list due to the minimal payoff for the amount of effort something like that would require.

When it comes to stock and its inherent volatility, from a company perspective, less information is much better than too much.

EDIT: I definitely don't want to come off as opposed to better transparency. Even if Ford had a dedicated "unofficial" employee who could feed some info to the enthusiast community, it would go a long way.

 

[NewBernWolf]

Many many posts about this Maverick pertain to the timing of the build. You see tons of information and speculation and rumor.
There are many people frustrated as a result.

Launching a brand new vehicle is not an exact science and moresoe with the challenges of materials shortages and logistics issues. Clearly the supply chain is stretched at best. (I do recognize this is an option as well.)

I think that Ford has an opportunity here to elevate the game by being more transparent. This isn’t a criticism, it’s a suggestion. I think that having their marketing staff publish weekly email newsletters would allow customers to appreciate all the moving parts involved here. Most folks, I believe can handle bad news better than no news. Being in the dark is when people tend to spin out of control.

I lead the sales effort for a manufacturer of disinfectant products and last year I created a protocol like this and the feedback was tremendous from my distributor client base. By understanding our challenges and having an idea of timing they were able to make adjustments as needed or keep their customers in the loop.

If Ford established, let’s say a Maverick bulletin and a Bronco version, etc, I think that the overwhelming % of customers would love it and it would foster more loyalty.

I completely agree. It's amazing what just acknowledging pending customers and updating them weekly on the process does for customer satisfaction.

Heck, my favorite college basketball team updates me with pictures and notes about practice, and the season doesn't start until November.

 

[Delzona]

You do realize the truck is not even technically in production yet right? The truck is not supposed to even hit dealers till the fall. After the fall is over, feel free to start complaining about late delivery.

I get being excited about a new truck (I sure am!) but there has to be a level of reasonable expectation that goes beyond "I want my truck now!". Would I have preferred Ford had production all lined up and ready to go before they even announced the truck? Definitely! But thats not how things happened.

As for the original post, keep in mind that this forum represents less than 3% of current Maverick reservations. While Ford could cater to us and probably get a little good press, I kinda doubt its high on their priority list due to the minimal payoff for the amount of effort something like that would require.

When it comes to stock and its inherent volatility, from a company perspective, less information is much better than too much.

I agree with you, Ford said "fall" and the fact we are getting "peeks behind the curtain" we are seeing that the Great OZ isn't quit ready. So until all the flying monkeys are wrangled in (or herding up the cats) we need to be patience. The way I see it Ford has until Dec 21, when begins winter, there's still plenty of "fall" time for Ford to get Mavericks produced.

 

[Turtle]

It’s all about Wall Street. I sold my ford stock. Use the Toyota method and don’t over hype and under deliver. A mini Tacoma hybrid on a corolla or rav4 chassis would blow them away and all the safety stuff is standard. Along with 50 mpg on a corolla. Check out the upcoming Corolla Cross. This is already sold in canada. toyota sells more hybrids per year than ford sells trucks. Don’t misunderstand i ordered a MAV lariat Area 51 lux package. Won’t wait forever.

 

[Scooter66]

Many many posts about this Maverick pertain to the timing of the build. You see tons of information and speculation and rumor.
There are many people frustrated as a result.

Launching a brand new vehicle is not an exact science and moresoe with the challenges of materials shortages and logistics issues. Clearly the supply chain is stretched at best. (I do recognize this is an option as well.)

I think that Ford has an opportunity here to elevate the game by being more transparent. This isn’t a criticism, it’s a suggestion. I think that having their marketing staff publish weekly email newsletters would allow customers to appreciate all the moving parts involved here. Most folks, I believe can handle bad news better than no news. Being in the dark is when people tend to spin out of control.

I lead the sales effort for a manufacturer of disinfectant products and last year I created a protocol like this and the feedback was tremendous from my distributor client base. By understanding our challenges and having an idea of timing they were able to make adjustments as needed or keep their customers in the loop.

If Ford established, let’s say a Maverick bulletin and a Bronco version, etc, I think that the overwhelming % of customers would love it and it would foster more loyalty.

Get use to it. I am a Bronco order holder and finally after several months Ford communicated the bad news that everybody saw coming. Ford isn’t going change to many cooks.

 

[r100gs91]

You do realize the truck is not even technically in production yet right? The truck is not supposed to even hit dealers till the fall. After the fall is over, feel free to start complaining about late delivery.

I get being excited about a new truck (I sure am!) but there has to be a level of reasonable expectation that goes beyond "I want my truck now!".

After 2 months since reserving all I am really asking for is a date.
If you feel that is asking too much, I respect your opinion.

 

[WesM]

After 2 months since reserving all I am really asking for is a date.
If you feel that is asking too much, I respect your opinion.

I completely understand the desire for a date, would not mind having one myself, even if it was 5-6 months from now, at least I would know right?

The problem most don't understand is that until the production line is fine tuned, which involves synchronization of robots, humans (of various skill levels) and non robotic mechanization, Ford will not know what their actual (vs projected) production will be. This is not even taking into account current shortages in everything from the ubiquitous "chips" to things like chemicals used to make the spray in bedliner. Then Ford has to deal with downstream suppliers who are facing their own shortages due to raw material and now a lack of employees due to... well we won't go into that.

Basically Ford has a massive supply chain that has to be coordinated before Ford even know what their production output is. They are faced with either providing customers with build dates based on projections, which must adjust to actual output, which would lead to a string of changed build dates for customers (and likely frustrate their customer base). Or Ford can wait till they know with reasonable certainty what their output is and provide delivery dates at that point.

TLDR Would you rather Ford gave you a build date now and have it change frequently? Or would you rather know your build date later, when they can give an accurate time frame for the build? You cannot have your cake and eat it too!

 

[Rkbrumbelow]

As a shareholder and a consumer, I would have rather seen fewer product releases that were more successfully executed.

Constraints notwithstanding, getting a model or two out with the limited resources available looks healthier than pumping expectations with flashy ad campaigns only to make people wait longer than expected (remains to be seen with Maverick, but certainly so with both Bronco lines).

Perception is reality. Most restaurants reduced their menu selections during Covid to maintain quality with fewer options. Ford decides to launch a salvo of new vehicles, change their sales strategy (build to order), all during this supply crisis.

That can be enough to shake the confidence of a shareholder and customer. At least this one.

Remember it’s not due out for another 3 weeks

 

[Red Ryder]

Remember it’s not due out for another 3 weeks

Right. I allowed for that with the "remains to be seen with Maverick" caveat.

Hopefully, Ford will surprise me and communicate more truthfully and accurately moving forward.
I am admittedly wary as I've seen this play out before. I was very optimistic and stayed the course with a Bronco Sport order that went off the rails in a very disappointing way.

I still think Ford should have considered graduated releases based on realistic capability to deliver.
I don't need reminding that "it isn't Fall yet", I get that. I've been following the Hermosillo situation from a Bronco Sport perspective, and they're way behind on that product. Hopefully, they are not overwhelmed.

 

[hcforde]

I bought 100 shares of Ford about 45 days ago. A few days later I kept reading about Bronco delays, QC issues, and then Maverick delay issues on over a dozen items for the truck. I decided to sell the stock I bought on Jim Cramer's recommendation at $14.40 got out at $14.20 . Since then it is down about 10%. I think lots of shareholders lost confidence, considering it was a momentum stock lately.

Three issues here:
1. you are not a day trader.
2. you sold too early and did not even hold it for a full quarter at least.
3. what are other companies in the samth the surrounding issues e industry faring?

buy and hold is a better strategy for heavy industries like manufacturing. It seems to me you are risk-adverse and impatient.

Stock of this nature, with supply issues, should be purchased when the stock is at its lowest and rebounding. The market is always right. The investors are the ones that make the mistakes!

 

[r100gs91]

Not that I have noticed. I lost $20, big deal. It was 12.60 this morning now down over 10%. Ford is a football stock nowadays. You need to get in and out when you can. Thanks to the Pump And Dumpers.

When Alan Mullaly became CEO and Ford stock was $1 I bought 1000 shares. I was either going to lose a $1000 or make a bundle. I sold the day Alan Mullaly announced his retirement at 17.xx a share. I made $16,000. The stock has never made it back to that level IIRC.

The reason I bought in, was it was a momentum stock that was running higher then it stalled and my GUT and the news of more delays, said it was time to sell. The recent sell off came when Ford fired the hard top company and announces massive delays. Recently it seems like I got out at the right time as product delay after product delay has the stock stalling, even on up days in the Markets. If I wanted to buy and hold something, it would BRK.B or Apple or Google.

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