⛑ Ford effectively assumes operational control of Webasto's Plymouth plant to help resolve Bronco top supply issue

[Mustang GTA]

I know plenty of people who have worked at the same type of facility in Indiana. It is a shit place to work. You are worked like a slave for shit pay with shit hours. Plastic extruder facilities are probably the same everywhere. Whether they are dumpster lids, trash cans, bedliners or binders; it's all the same. Nothing special about this top other than it has separate parts that must go together well without leaks for years to come.
Good luck with that idea. This top is a shit idea that looked good on paper.

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[MN_OuterBanks]

I know plenty of people who have worked at the same type of facility in Indiana. It is a shit place to work. You are worked like a slave for shit pay with shit hours. Plastic extruder facilities are probably the same everywhere. Whether they are dumpster lids, trash cans, bedliners or binders; it's all the same. Nothing special about this top other than it has separate parts that must go together well without leaks for years to come.
Good luck with that idea. This top is a shit idea that looked good on paper.

It’s the same concept top as on Jeep. So can’t be that bad with how many millions of keeps out there. I assume some leak and are fixed but anytime you have holes in a roof, the chance is there for water intrusion. Kind of the price you pay you to have an open air experience outside a full
Convertible roof.

 

[MN_OuterBanks]

if you told me Amazon or Tesla took over the plant , that would give me encouragement. ;-)., but Ford, not so much. They can’t even send an email that adds value why should I believe they can turn this plant around.? And I detest Amazon, Tesla I’m neutral because I highly regard Musk, he thinks big like Henry Ford did. Henry is rolling in his grave right now.

Musk is a moron, full on egomaniac.

 

[Mvruggink41]

they should for the people who ordered both tops to give them the option to have their Broncos be delivered with just the soft top and wait for the (MIC) top that I order to come in when it does...

It's summer I will have the soft top on for the next 4 months in Michigan... That would be the best option if they could make this happen!!

 

[Ksjrb03]

maybe Ford should take some off the MSRP for people who stuck with

Do they make the hard tops for Jeep Wranglers

Yes.

 

[Mustang GTA]

It’s the same concept top as on Jeep. So can’t be that bad with how many millions of keeps out there. I assume some leak and are fixed but anytime you have holes in a roof, the chance is there for water intrusion. Kind of the price you pay you to have an open air experience outside a full
Convertible roof.

A convertible top is different. This is like a pop up sun roof or T tops only worse. Further, it has to be different than a Jeep top for patent reasons.

 

[KKCrunch]

So if Webasto company is that poorly run and the future of the Bronco launch is so dependent on it, why doesn’t Ford just buy the place and cut out the middle man to ensure the success of the brand that’s going be the future of Ford. That seems like the right business decision to me vs. investing millions fixing problems with a facility you don’t even own.

 

[Razorbak86]

I know plenty of people who have worked at the same type of facility in Indiana. It is a shit place to work. You are worked like a slave for shit pay with shit hours. Plastic extruder facilities are probably the same everywhere. Whether they are dumpster lids, trash cans, bedliners or binders; it's all the same. Nothing special about this top other than it has separate parts that must go together well without leaks for years to come.
Good luck with that idea. This top is a shit idea that looked good on paper.

One former member (Webasto employee) stated the following before he vanished...

The standard roof, painted or Mic has a honeycomb and glass fiber finish.

Another member added this explanation a few days ago...

From what I gather, it's a whole different process because it's a different type of roof. Instead of a one layer type roof, it's 2 layers with a honeycomb sandwiched between for insulation and sound deadening purposes. New type roof, new process, new manufacturing bugs to work out.

 

[Mybbackpacker]

This is still Ford’s fault as they chose them to produce it and should have done due diligence ahead of time.

 

[1IH]

Webasto? More like Web-ass-to, am I right?

I think you meant Web-Ass-Toe

 

[AZbronco1]

Hey Ford, how about working on the 4-8 week delivery time? The min delivery time to anywhere CONUS is three days(ok, with a C17 maybe less). So, how can you cut that delivery time for 2021 down to a max of two weeks? That might make some folks happy!

How many Broncos can Fed-x/UPS fit in their jets?

 

[Razorback]

@PREMiERdrum thanks for the info. It was just a matter of time. Looks like Ford also got things running quickly; so high five for Ford. Question based on best guess though... When you say it's going to take time to resolve everything, you think a month, 2 months? Any chance Ford hits the initial 60k units that we were hoping for early in the year?

 

[PREMiERdrum]

@PREMiERdrum thanks for the info. It was just a matter of time. Looks like Ford also got things running quickly; so high five for Ford. Question based on best guess though... When you say it's going to take time to resolve everything, you think a month, 2 months? Any chance Ford hits the initial 60k units that we were hoping for early in the year?

Things will improve incrementally but I think 60k is all but impossible at this point.

 

[RBF 1401]

This is still Ford’s fault as they chose them to produce it and should have done due diligence ahead of time.

Not sure what you mean by not doing due diligence. Webasto is a mega-global company renowned for what they do. One of many examples, a press release from 5/30/18:


FCA US Awarded Webasto with Innovation Supplier of the Year Award

And that's just one example. They make a ton of stuff for a ton of auto makers. They aren't some tiny start up that Ford didn't research well enough.

 

[Razorback]

Things will improve incrementally but I think 60k is all but impossible at this point.

Thanks. That was my fear. Any difference in the 4 door vs 2 door top bottleneck? I would think the 2 door would be easier to manufacture and since there's not a soft top option, I just wonder if they would have a slight tilt towards the 2 door.

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