Bronco Nation LIVE: Bronco News with Bronco Brand Manager

TK1215

Biggest thing is that they write in the language, by the way, “we can change anything at anytime and there is nothing you can do but get your $100 back”. “Oh and you can’t sue us”. what a program they have there. Now I am curious as the people who ordered but it wasn’t with a reservation. What might their recourse be? I feel like the people who were part of the early reservations will be screwed no matter what. No one read what the reservation agreement was before they clicked yes.

Ford made the changes they deemed necessary, very early on, before the reservations were converted to an actual order. I think the notice went out at the end of December 2020. I took a snapshot of the change when I finally converted my order in March of 2021 and tucked the information away. And several times over the the last two years I have talked about all these things. Like no one reading the reservation information.

The fact that allocations are not something new to Ford or any other dealership, and is, will and always will be a factor in getting any vehicle from any dealership. That before Ford converted one reservation to an order, there were serious issues with commodities, parts constraints, quality control, and shipping. These issues are worldwide and continue to this day. Due to these issues Ford dropped features very early on and based on what people originally reserved, gave certain reservation holders Ford Pass points. Then QC issues and constrained parts issues became a big issue. Manufacturers could not make enough of the parts and Ford advised people that, “if you want it sooner” take off certain items to get yours sooner. And many did. Others like me chose to wait.

Actual production of MY21 Bronco’s didn’t even ramp up until June of 2021. There was a very limited run of Bronco’s and we then got the original Price Protection. This guaranteed the MSRP price for those of us being pushed to MY22 and beyond. Three things on this point. 1) this did not guarantee your purchase price, just MSRP. So you had to negotiate ahead of time with your dealership. This fact was in play since the start. 2) Ford told us that the price protection was good through MY23. 3) This was for reservations or orders placed before March 19th 2021. Then there was MY22.5 PP and then MY23 private offers. Good through MY23. They told us PP would be ending and it is. I wish I could find my posts from two years ago where I put all the information or that I had kept all of the screen shots or emails with all of the information. But I figured I would no longer needed them.

My biggest gripe with this whole thing is that certain dealerships gave great below MSRP pricing and as a result took hundreds, if not well over a thousand reservations and orders. The dealerships, knowing the allocation model that Ford uses, knew they would never get that many orders and took them anyways. And Ford knew they were doing it and did nothing about it. Even if there were no parts constraint issues and everything was perfect, I doubt they would get through all of the number of orders in a year because they never thought they would get this response for the Bronco. This is, and has been the perfect storm of everything going wrong.

OrangecrushBronco

The Why is the same for corporations as it is for our country. When you outsource the shit out of everything and are no longer self reliant on anything you have no control over anything and when the slightest imbalance or hiccup in the system happens it all goes to heck. None of these companies nor our country has invested in trades nor skills so there are no infrastructures for pivoting. It's the cooperate and economical version of muscle atrophy. But we all get participation ribbons.

Wildbilt

Touché @OrangecrushBronco. You strike a chord and a nerve that frustrates me to the core...global economy...it's cheaper and more efficient to outsource and oh, by the way, helps the bottom line and our shareholders. That is all well and good in a perfect world but sweet peas, we are far and away from that now. FoMoCo nor anyone else in the giant manufacturing world can "lift and shift" anymore; instead, brought to their respective knees by suppliers, contractors, transport, lack of organic skilled labor and potentially the UAW Union if things don't go well--talk about a sh*t show...I'm on a roll here so indulge me everyone. As I mentioned to @Laura, and as @swooshdave has stated, there are challenges to the Why but not insurmountable as a very high level explanation to the nation--the Bronco Nation. Having been a part of this forum for a relatively short period of time, I get the sense there are a lot of younger Bronco, and new Ford buyers out there--maybe the predominant group. As such, there is a chasm of understanding in the "old world" manufacturing methods, methodology, and mechanics. We are literally witnessing an Industrial Revolution company that has modernized to be sure, but still very reliant on the tried and true skills, aptitudes, and team player mentalities that are rare qualities to find in today's labor market--no Amazon Prime here. Exacerbate all that with the "outsiders" e.g. contractors, suppliers, transportation that are totally out of the sphere of influence. It is not that hard to assign a group of Ford employees to distill the process and challenges facing current Bronco production and package it in a benign briefing that potentially the Brand Manager Matt--a belly button we have access to, (not "Manger" by the way--details,details, @Laura :) ) gives all stakeholders an understanding of what the hell is going on. As a Company striving for customer satisfaction and Brand loyalty, you do not want to breed the contempt I see on a daily basis on this forum. We are not talking about an in-the-weeds, super detailed, give away the family and corporate secrets kind of briefing; we need a holistic, no shit, we hear ya but this is what we are facing and WHY we need your help, kind of briefing. Enough said. @FordMotorCompany I am a LONG time customer, Shareholder, and fierce advocate. Consider the high road here; Built Wild!

Laura

I'll ask; I know there are people might who feel somewhat better if they just get a reason out of someone.

Mikes2021Bronco

I have a Bronco in my garage, all I can say to folks on the fence about what to do in this crazy situation, decide if you can accept lesser Bronco from the factory.. and build on it, make it your own, personalize it.. and be true to yourself... ARE YOU EVER REALLY GONNA DO THE RUBICON TRAIL, OR HELLS REVENGE, OR THE SAND DUNES ACROSS THE COUNTRY?? Or can you get by with a very well built advanced 4x4 system, or the standard. For light offroading or snowy inclement weather... my WANTS definitely SUPERCEDES any of my needs for a WIDLTRAK. the high package is a very desirable package in several of the models. I was at this crossroads 2 years ago with the beginning of the hardtop issues .. I switched from 2 door to 4 door soft top. 2.7 to a 2.3, sas to non sas Black Diamond...I HAVE ZERO COMPLAINTS on the soft top.. or non sas... I think if you give one a a try and slap some 35s on it. You'll love it... If your a true offroader, I imagine you already have a Jeep Jeep or a Yota in the stable.. I think many NOT ALL, can love what ever version they get... The Bronco really is a great vehicle. But dont pass up a chance to get a 23.... worse case... it comes in... you say no... and another guy walks in behind you and loves it, and buys it.... Use ford's Price Protection and there 2500, try it for for a few months.. if not.. you can still sell at msrp.. which means you could come out even, after taxes.

Now what was it I came in here for?? 🤔

Oh yeah, dont forget the sooner you change orders, the sooner you are in the que to get a build date, now that many will be changing. GOOD LUCK!! If u have any questions on non sas and softtop Black Diamond or Bronco in general, please ask myself or the many others who have More experience with them, than myself!!

Wildbilt

It's a very simple concept: rather than say you are canceled, one explains you are canceled because...but we will do everything in our power to ensure your good money is honored and a quality product delivered. Not hard, right?

nrlucas

The thing they won’t say out loud is that fulfilling your years long order is no longer financially viable. And, while you would think that a company with $51.95 billion in market cap would be able to absorb such costs (and build a few more freaking paint booths so you don’t have to delete established customer orders to boot) at the expense of retaining customers, it turns out they have someone higher and mightier to answer to. That’s right….Jesus…I mean stockholders. And so, we are being sacrificed, because it’s easier to burn bridges than to explain a shrinking profit margin on a shareholders call.

nrlucas

The thing they won’t say out loud is that fulfilling your years long order is no longer financially viable. And, while you would think that a company with $51.95 billion in market cap would be able to absorb such costs (and build a few more freaking paint booths so you don’t have to delete established customer orders to boot) at the expense of retaining customers, it turns out they have someone higher and mightier to answer to. That’s right….Jesus…I mean stockholders. And so, we are being sacrificed, because it’s easier to burn bridges than to explain a shrinking profit margin on a shareholders call.

TechnicalDisaster

As a stockholder, I hate that they are taking this action. This is a gift to Jeep, and long time Ford customers are turning away. Why would we want that?

TK1215

So if by some stroke of luck your pending order gets pulled for build before the deadline are you gonna sell the 21 and get it?

Laura

I'll ask; I know there are people might who feel somewhat better if they just get a reason out of someone.

OrangecrushBronco

The Why is the same for corporations as it is for our country. When you outsource the shit out of everything and are no longer self reliant on anything you have no control over anything and when the slightest imbalance or hiccup in the system happens it all goes to heck. None of these companies nor our country has invested in trades nor skills so there are no infrastructures for pivoting. It's the cooperate and economical version of muscle atrophy. But we all get participation ribbons.

OrangecrushBronco

Too bad $100 from 2 years ago is about $30 in today money.

swooshdave

Supply chains were in much worse shape at the beginning of the previous century and Henry took it on to go vertical. You even hear stories of him buying forests to insure enough wood. And building power plants on the Rogue River to feed the factories. But vertical has it's own challenges, mostly as you bloat you lose efficiency.

I also think that the pandemic had some sort of amnesia effect because a scant few years ago we didn't think much about supply chains except how amazing they were.

Laura

I did get the timestamps published yesterday: Unscheduled Orders Q&A with Bronco Brand Manager.

I have some thoughts marinating after 6 hours of watching and marking. More to come.

TechnicalDisaster

@jparker The original fender badges were shown with color accents. The preorder only has them in black. Is there a plan to release the color versions?

firefox33

Are there any pictures of any of these fender badges actually mounted on a Bronco that could be shared?