Overall Attitudes toward the process

[martyi48]

I hope that is not the case. But it very may well could be.

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[dceggert]

I give the process concept an A. I give Ford's implementation of it an F. The concept could not be simpler. Go to the Ford website and build and reserve your truck. Your closest dealer will call you and if you want to do business with them fine, if not, find another dealer to place your reservation in "order" status. Within a day or two you will get an email from Ford verifying the order has been received and is in the system. You will then receive additional emails for scheduling, build, etc. until the truck finally hits your dealership for pick up. You don't even have to go to the dealership or see your salesman in person until it is time to pick up your Maverick. Easy-peasy!

It is the implementation of this simple process where Ford lacks consistency and clear messaging. And it starts with a lack of training. Ford knew this would be a fairly popular vehicle but they put the process out there before training their customer facing front line sales and management people. At launch, the process worked flawlessly but those that had to implement that process did not have a clue what to do or how that process was suppose to work on their part.

I commend Ford for developing an innovated and well thought out product in the Maverick and an easy way for the customer to build and reserve one. But that is where it ends.

There are too many moving parts to this, and the process should be just like ordering any other truck or SUV they have. I'm just wondering if Ford wasn't ready to"sell" the Maverick but got pushed into doing because of the leaded photos.

I think Ford should learn from this total misunderstanding and have two options next time:

Option 1 - open the order bank for those that want to pre-order a vehicle and participate in the roll out. These people would be willing to wait for the supply chain to iron out, the production process to finish, and receive their vehicle when it is ready.

Option 2 - restrict the order bank until the vehicles are in production and a production order can be placed, or pick one up out of stock at their local dealer when they are in stock.

Oh wait...they do have these two options on the Maverick...my bad.

 

[hcforde]

They are getting sued because the dealers won't make huge money as they do now, the dealers order cars the dealer wants to sell, usually with options that many people don't want but will take because it's on the lot waiting for them.

....and now after decades of the dealership program is ingrained; the dealers feel the Tesla would be given a competitive edge. One of the complaints is the number of people that would become unemployed. How Ironic, the whole idea behind technology and innovation is to reduce workload and therefore workers. But this arena is now protected. Yet if you go to a dealership they will sell you a car based on......technology and innovation. LOL!!!

I was looking at another brand for a truck and all of the dealers in my area(not the same owner)added $1800 worth of high margin add-ons: (window tint, pinstriping, door edge protectors, and Resistol). You could only get exactly what you wanted only if you ordered a car.

Regardless of any faults some may find with Ford. it appears to be the less of all the other evils. I find their order process to be innovative and possibly the establishing of a new standard of how to purchase a car. Years down the road we may look back and find that this workaround was the incremental change that was required to disrupt the industry way of doing things among the big boys!.

 

[Snax]

We've all witnessed good-faith efforts from Ford's dealers trying to re-distribute reliable information from their reps. Usually it's helpful and accurate, but sometimes it's not. We've also witnessed a boatload of misinformation and misinterpretation from a variety of different sources. The mix ends up being confusing, contradictory, and frustrating for people. And, of course, this leads to people being nasty to each other.

I'd love to see Ford participate more in forums like this, in an effort to being some clarity and civility. Sort of like fordvideoguy's terrific myth-busting video, but straight from the horse's mouth. Although I'm sure some will likely angrily disagree with me, I don't think that Ford's silence is great for the brand.

 

[hcforde]

I have seen nothing different than what I have described. The section of my post you quoted is what I gave Ford an A, which is the process itself. It is the second part I posted that you did not quote that is my problem. When I called various dealers to obtain pricing they gave me every excuse imaginable why they could not place an order, from Ford is not taking orders to we don't have a price sheet yet. Of course, none of these excuses were valid at the time. The dealers and salesmen simply were not educated by Ford as to what to do when a customer reserved a truck.

I certainly don't expect Ford to build a truck in a day but I do expect that their employees know what to do when a customer makes a reservation.

People in ford dealerships are not employees of Ford. The same thing you describe happened to me at the Nissan dealerships when I was inquiring about the 2022 Frontier last week. They were clueless! I got a price sheet on August 12th online and took it down to a dealer. and they were not yet able to access prices through their official channels.

 

[Eagle11]

....and now after decades of the dealership program is ingrained; the dealers feel the Tesla would be given a competitive edge. One of the complaints is the number of people that would become unemployed. How Ironic, the whole idea behind technology and innovation is to reduce workload and therefore workers. But this arena is now protected. Yet if you go to a dealership they will sell you a car based on......technology and innovation. LOL!!!

I was looking at another brand for a truck and all of the dealers in my area(not the same owner)added $1800 worth of high margin add-ons: (window tint, pinstriping, door edge protectors, and Resistol). You could only get exactly what you wanted only if you ordered a car.

Regardless of any faults some may find with Ford. it appears to be the less of all the other evils. I find their order process to be innovative and possibly the establishing of a new standard of how to purchase a car. Years down the road we may look back and find that this workaround was the incremental change that was required to disrupt the industry way of doing things among the big boys!.

Truly the reason why they want Tesla out is greed, and profit, just like what you wrote the add-ons, if you order the car they (the dealers) can't add that crap on. Now if people order cars, the dealer won't have a huge inventory (money tied up) and cars will be flowing out of the dealer with happy customers because the customers got the car/truck/suv that they wanted.

 

[Eagle11]

People in ford dealerships are not employees of Ford. The same thing you describe happened to me at the Nissan dealerships when I was inquiring about the 2022 Frontier last week. They were clueless! I got a price sheet on August 12th online and took it down to a dealer. and they were not yet able to access prices through their official channels.

Welcome to the internet. The Last BMW I ordered was an 2017 550i. I knew more about the car than the dealer and I had a copy of the order guide, again thank you Internet. The dealer have their hands tied they don't want to say something that isn't true, but the information is getting into the hands of the public before the information being disseminated to the dealers this isn't the dealers fault.

 

[hcforde]

Truly the reason why they want Tesla out is greed, and profit, just like what you wrote the add-ons, if you order the car they (the dealers) can't add that crap on. Now if people order cars, the dealer won't have a huge inventory (money tied up) and cars will be flowing out of the dealer with happy customers because the customers got the car/truck/suv that they wanted.

Correct, but it is an antiquated path to profit that they are ingrained in.

 

[oljackfrost]

I have seen nothing different than what I have described. The section of my post you quoted is what I gave Ford an A, which is the process itself. It is the second part I posted that you did not quote that is my problem. When I called various dealers to obtain pricing they gave me every excuse imaginable why they could not place an order, from Ford is not taking orders to we don't have a price sheet yet. Of course, none of these excuses were valid at the time. The dealers and salesmen simply were not educated by Ford as to what to do when a customer reserved a truck.

I certainly don't expect Ford to build a truck in a day but I do expect that their employees know what to do when a customer makes a reservation.

The dealers are independent, not owned by Ford. My dealer salesperson was well informed, wrote up the order to my specs and I got confirmation from Ford almost immediately. The problems are with the individual dealers, not Ford. If Ford wasn’t giving the dealers proper information, they ALL would have been poor. Not the case with my small town dealer.

 

[hcforde]

I don't see how ford can really avoid this kind of pent up emotional response with their current release model. I suppose they have good marketing reasons (more money) for announcing a vehicle six months to a year (or more) before people will actually see them (Thanks Tesla for giving the auto industry that idea).

I understand your desire to defend Fords actions, but the facts are they knew they were releasing a new vehicle while experiencing component shortages, not to mention a new production line that was not ready to go. Ford could have avoided a lot of this angst by waiting till their production line was setup and ready to run, before announcing and taking reservations/orders. They could have had the first month of production running a combination of early reservations/stock/dealer builds at which point they would have had plenty of customer builds to keep them going.

Its also understandable that the moderators of a forum would try and control the angst so the environment stays productive and enjoyable... as long as they are not overly heavy on the ban hammer.

If the car they had to offer was not so well received you would not see the " pent up emotional response". I am sure they(FORD) knew they had a winner but still it is difficult for a company to judge how much of a winner they had on their hands, this is a new product!!! If the car cost $35,000 startin with the 2.5 XL hybrid. Would you have the same " pent up emotional response "

There is more than one factor creating the situation. Producing a car is not like producing an iPhone!!!

 

[vap0rtranz]

Some parts of the country have many, but they are still relatively scarce in my area, especially in upper trim levels

I finally saw a Sport on the road here in Wisconsin. It looked like an Area51 color.

And there were 2 Broncos (the big ones) sitting on dealer lots up here that I drove by over the weekend.

The Bronco & Sport feel like growing pains for Ford ... hopefully Maverick orders from us won't feel the same pain.

 

[zeketolliver]

Honestly, I'm fine with the process. I have more concerns about playing the "build to order" game unless the supply chain becomes shorter and more diversified.


Also, with the Covid surging again, I'm concerned about production getting shut down. I want my Maverick, and will probably need it within a year, but I don't want people putting their life and health at risk so that I can get a car faster.

 

[M.A.C.]

I have seen nothing different than what I have described. The section of my post you quoted is what I gave Ford an A, which is the process itself. It is the second part I posted that you did not quote that is my problem. When I called various dealers to obtain pricing they gave me every excuse imaginable why they could not place an order, from Ford is not taking orders to we don't have a price sheet yet. Of course, none of these excuses were valid at the time. The dealers and salesmen simply were not educated by Ford as to what to do when a customer reserved a truck.

I certainly don't expect Ford to build a truck in a day but I do expect that their employees know what to do when a customer makes a reservation.

Don’t want to sound annoying but Ford could probably build around 800 a day… that comes from another thread….. If you open the door and let everyone in what can you expect……. Ford makes the Hybrid engine a really big marketing deal then you find out they haven’t built enough transmissions ….. Ford says that they will build Hybrids 40% and Ecoboost at 60%…….. Every dealership is stating that it’s the other way around……..

The idea Ford has for the truck and ordering process was excellent…….. what was pathetic was the Ford dealer prep work that was needed to insure a clear ordering process and communication from the dealer to the customer……. That was just a Failure…….

Patience is a virtue that is in short supply and I don’t exclude myself.

I just keep telling myself over and over “ Is the Maverick worth the wait ?” And the answer is Yes.

When Ford starts to deliver and they will these frustrations will be a distant memory.

 

[hcforde]

We've all witnessed good-faith efforts from Ford's dealers trying to re-distribute reliable information from their reps. Usually it's helpful and accurate, but sometimes it's not. We've also witnessed a boatload of misinformation and misinterpretation from a variety of different sources. The mix ends up being confusing, contradictory, and frustrating for people. And, of course, this leads to people being nasty to each other.

I'd love to see Ford participate more in forums like this, in an effort to being some clarity and civility. Sort of like fordvideoguy's terrific myth-busting video, but straight from the horse's mouth. Although I'm sure some will likely angrily disagree with me, I don't think that Ford's silence is great for the brand.

...anything you say can and WILL be used against you... The more they say may create fodder for more arguments, that is just the way people in general are. I think that is true now more than ever since covid sequestration.

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