Bronco Semi-Conductor Chip Shortage?

Bronco
May 03, 2021
11

By Dusty Rhodes

Stories have recently surfaced indicating the new Bronco may be caught in the crosshairs of the global semiconductor chip shortage. The company said during last week’s quarterly earnings call that it expects to lose about 50% of its planned second-quarter production, up from a costly 17% loss in the first quarter.

Sources told Bronco Nation on Friday that they do not expect the 2021 Bronco production to be impacted by the chip shortage, sighting actions taken by the company to protect one of the most anticipated launches in recent history.

Attention is now shifting to solving parts availability issues for some of the most popular features, body-styles, and powertrains. Hard tops and the popular Sasquatch package remain significant challenges for the company to meet. More consumers have opted for fully loaded and more powerful Broncos than anticipated.

Ford has indicated that additional production is on the way to meet demand for the Sasquatch package, expecting it to be in place by late summer. However, hard top production at the new Webasto plant in Plymouth, Michigan remains an ongoing challenge.

As a result of these and other option availability constraints, consumers with earlier timestamps may first find a Bronco in the driveway of a neighbor who ordered their vehicle at a much later date. It is important to note that Ford's production process is dynamic and based on a number of real-time factors including reservation timestamp, orders available for production scheduling, part availability, and the number of Bronco vehicles each dealer receives.

While each consumer’s timestamp is a key factor, the scheduling system at Ford surveys the list of orders until it finds a clean and buildable order. If your order has one feature that is constrained (e.g. Tow Package) or not available, it will be passed over for one further down the list that does not have any non-buildable options.

What can you do to get your Bronco sooner? Selecting options that are not constrained will expedite production timing. Common examples of available options include:

  • 4-door
  • 2.3L instead of a 2.7L
  • Soft top vs. Hard top
  • Big Bend vs Wildtrak

What items will likely delay my Bronco from being built sooner?

  • Hard top
  • Sasquatch package
  • Tow package
  • 2.7L engine

We understand these are some of the features that make Bronco appealing. For those of you willing to wait, Ford will build the Bronco you ordered, but it may not be as soon as you would like. For those of you wanting to move up in line, we recommend you consider removing some non-essentials or easy to install aftermarket features like trailer towing.

To make changes to your order, consult your dealer for more details. Orders may be edited until they are scheduled for production.

Will you be editing your order? Discuss in the forums!

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