Exactly what determines dealer allocations?

[JBryant]

Everyone seems to have opinions, but no one addresses the subject directly. Exactly what determines dealer allocations? For instance, my dealer where I have my 23 Hybrid Lariat ordered stated yesterday when I called him, "We have 34 Maverick allocations for December." Does that mean that 34 Mavericks are allocated to be built for customers who ordered from that dealer for the month of December? What is the criteria for Ford choosing which ones are to built in which month? I think the dealer told me a couple weeks ago that they had ordered about 240 Mavericks for their customers during the week the order bank was open. Do they go by date ordered, or what? I am totally confused and hope someone has the answers.

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[GPSMan]

Everyone seems to have opinions, but no one addresses the subject directly. Exactly what determines dealer allocations? For instance, my dealer where I have my 23 Hybrid Lariat ordered stated yesterday when I called him, "We have 34 Maverick allocations for December." Does that mean that 34 Mavericks are allocated to be built for customers who ordered from that dealer for the month of December? What is the criteria for Ford choosing which ones are to built in which month? I think the dealer told me a couple weeks ago that they had ordered about 240 Mavericks for their customers during the week the order bank was open. Do they go by date ordered, or what? I am totally confused and hope someone has the answers.

Why would you ask a question that has no answer?

Easier to answer: Is the universe infinate?

 

[OleFordGuy]

@fordvideoguy maybe you could best explain the complicated mess of dealer allocations for @JBryant

 

[KevCuRaoi]

Everyone seems to have opinions, but no one addresses the subject directly. Exactly what determines dealer allocations? For instance, my dealer where I have my 23 Hybrid Lariat ordered stated yesterday when I called him, "We have 34 Maverick allocations for December." Does that mean that 34 Mavericks are allocated to be built for customers who ordered from that dealer for the month of December? What is the criteria for Ford choosing which ones are to built in which month? I think the dealer told me a couple weeks ago that they had ordered about 240 Mavericks for their customers during the week the order bank was open. Do they go by date ordered, or what? I am totally confused and hope someone has the answers.

An allocations are simply like permission/an invitation to schedule a vehicles. Allocations are usually given out monthly (based mostly on market share & sales history)....allocation is first given regionally, then to zones, and then to dealers. Nov and Dec are combined. So Ford "wants" to schedule 34 Mavericks from your dealership's order bank in Dec (or Nov and Dec?).

Highest priority (= lowest priority code) will be looked at first. Constraints will play a huge role.

 

[commadorebob]

 

[Aza]

An allocations are simply like permission/an invitation to schedule a vehicles. Allocations are usually given out monthly (based mostly on market share & sales history)....allocation is first given regionally, then to zones, and then to dealers. Nov and Dec are combined. So Ford "wants" to schedule 34 Mavericks from your dealership's order bank in Dec (or Nov and Dec?).

Highest priority (= lowest priority code) will be looked at first. Constraints will play a huge role.

Once again, @KevCuRaoi, you give a great explanation! Truly an asset to this Maverick community!

 

[anblatt]

Everyone seems to have opinions, but no one addresses the subject directly. Exactly what determines dealer allocations? For instance, my dealer where I have my 23 Hybrid Lariat ordered stated yesterday when I called him, "We have 34 Maverick allocations for December." Does that mean that 34 Mavericks are allocated to be built for customers who ordered from that dealer for the month of December? What is the criteria for Ford choosing which ones are to built in which month? I think the dealer told me a couple weeks ago that they had ordered about 240 Mavericks for their customers during the week the order bank was open. Do they go by date ordered, or what? I am totally confused and hope someone has the answers.

If your dealer has 34 allocations for December that is the maximum number that Ford can build for that dealership that month. They will first look at priority number, for most 10 or 19. The lower the better. Then they will look at constraints such as Hybrid or trailer hitch wiring. Then it gets really grey as to whether they go by date entered by your dealer or order number assigned by your dealer. So ideally if you are one of the lowest 34 priority numbered Ecoboosts without a trailer hitch you are getting built. Some Hybrids are being sprinkled in there, but most of those will be eaten up by all the 22 cancels that just got converted to 23's and then moved from 99 to 2 priority code.

 

[JBryant]

If your dealer has 34 allocations for December that is the maximum number that Ford can build for that dealership that month. They will first look at priority number, for most 10 or 19. The lower the better. Then they will look at constraints such as Hybrid or trailer hitch wiring. Then it gets really grey as to whether they go by date entered by your dealer or order number assigned by your dealer. So ideally if you are one of the lowest 34 priority numbered Ecoboosts without a trailer hitch you are getting built. Some Hybrids are being sprinkled in there, but most of those will be eaten up by all the 22 cancels that just got converted to 23's and then moved from 99 to 2 priority code.

Makes as much sense as anything I have read. I fully agree that 22 rollovers should get precedent. As much as I want my Hybrid, I want the people who have patiently waited to get theirs first. Mine is a Hybrid and I am sure it will be later. Just get confused when people post who ordered the same day I did when the order banks opened say they have a build date for their Hybrid. Oh well, more popcorn and movies so I can hurry up and wait.

 

[Jatrax]

Just get confused when people post who ordered the same day I did when the order banks opened say they have a build date for their Hybrid.

I think the key is to remember that each dealer's order list is separate. So just because someone ordered on the same day doesn't mean they are in the same queue as you. The only list that matters is the one at your dealer, and whether they have allocations.

My dealer did not know the order bank was open on the 15th so when I walked in at opening on the 16th, I was the first Maverick order placed for 2023. If I had been 30 minutes later, I might be behind 30 other people. Just pure luck.

 

[jsus]

Put differently, say you can build 100,000 Mavericks in a year. You then allocate a % of that production capacity to each country based on expected demand. Let's just say 50% to the US (arbitrary number). Now, you've got 50,000 Mavericks allocated for US dealers.

From there, you break it down into regions and states. Let's say you want 20% to go to California. That's 10,000 units allocated to California.

Now let's say you've got 100 dealers in California. On average, that's 100 units per dealer. But! You have small town dealers and you have huge ones in San Fransokyo, Los Angeles, etc. Since these dealers do different volumes of sales, it doesn't make sense to allocate the same production capacity to each; smaller ones won't sell them all and larger ones will be begging you for more product.

That's where the black box algorithm comes in. Depending on myriad factors, The Algorithm™ looks at past sales volume to determine how much production capacity to allocate to each dealer.

Of course, this is an oversimplification with made up numbers, and it breaks down further, including how many Hybrid vs. EcoBoost units are allocated to each dealer.

But that's where the word allocation comes from - they're allocating a certain amount of production capacity to each dealer.

 

[Jatrax]

The allocation system makes sense when dealers are ordering for stock to put on the lot. It makes sure all dealers, large or small, get something close to what they need. Well, in a 'normal' time anyway.

But when retail customers are going to a website and placing an order and then selecting a dealer that they want that order to be delivered to the allocation system no longer makes sense. In fact, it becomes a disaster. Who cares how many 'allocations' a dealer has if a customer placed an order?

When customers place a retail order on the Ford website those orders should be built in time stamp order (allowing for parts availability) regardless of dealer allocations.

 

[paneubert]

Easier to answer: Is the universe infinate?

"How long is a piece of string?"

 

[Saul T Knutz]

"How long is a piece of string?"

One of my favs... "How many fibers are intertwined in a Shredded Wheat biscuit?"

 

[GPSMan]

"How long is a piece of string?"

Ah..... String Theory....

 

[Renho17]

The allocation system makes sense when dealers are ordering for stock to put on the lot. It makes sure all dealers, large or small, get something close to what they need. Well, in a 'normal' time anyway.

But when retail customers are going to a website and placing an order and then selecting a dealer that they want that order to be delivered to the allocation system no longer makes sense. In fact, it becomes a disaster. Who cares how many 'allocations' a dealer has if a customer placed an order?

When customers place a retail order on the Ford website those orders should be built in time stamp order (allowing for parts availability) regardless of dealer allocations.

Because if it wasn’t like that , CA,TX and FL wouod get most of them and everyone else would fight for scraps.

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