Chesapeake Bronco Club

Do you all think Ford released this thing without a full plan?

Seems like all they had was a concept... and demand kinda surprised them? Just seems like they've had to pull together capacity so last minute & the overall rollout seems premature on their end. Like they were unprepared...

Thoughts?

I think they were caught flat-footed. I'm interesting in seeing how much of the hype turns into actual sales.

They had a plan, they just didn't realize that it was a bad plan and now they're left scrambling to fulfill demand (especially with the supply chain being hamstrung by the virus) (Edit: bad plan because they underestimated how long the impacts would be. If the virus blew over then it would have most likely been a good plan)

@MrJoe

@MrJoe I'm also curious how much converts... On one hand: I'd like to move up a spot or two (or 10,000). But on the other hand: I'd like to have more Bronco friends to make

Honestly, I think they had a much 'fuller' plan before the global economy took a dump, and the pandemic hit. Keep in mind the Bronco has been in development for years - strategic development most likely designed a full roadmap of how this thing was going to come out. I think the reveal itself was going to be a lot more interactive, and I think the Bronco Rodeos were going to be more frequent and more numerous - it's a unique way not only support your customer base, but as marketing as well. All the later items, like actual B&P, accessories, and final price-points were to follow after with targeted consumer feedback, in an orderly and timed fashion.

Then comes COVID, and I'm not just talking about how the country essentially shutdown for months on end...I'm talking full impact. All the sudden timelines were majorly screwed up - internally & externally, financial institutions are in panic mode, supply chains are disrupted, any mass public events are now a corporate liability - the automakers are hit the worst with this - the Bronco is a consumer product, not a necessity. Massive corporations employing tens of thousands of workers, with multiple global initiatives, don't take well to sudden changes.

With ALLLLL that said, everything has become a last minute decision, and it shows. The very pandemic that is throwing wrenches in the original plan, every which way, is also the very thing that fueling so much passion from a consumer base that just wants to get out and be normal again.

I know I'm in the minority by far, but overall I'm super proud of how Ford is doing. Sure, communication could be better, and information could be released in much more orderly fashion - but I'm not like most of the people on this forum that like to nit-pick every small thing, or feel entitled to a discount for something that is not a necessity.

At the end of the day - we have a beautiful vehicle, where the heritage was respected, at a price-point that makes the value of it's direct competitor (Jeep Wrangler) look unworthy. You get a lot more vehicle for $30,000 in the Bronco, than the Wrangler (you don't even get air-conditioning, haha).

Sorry for the long post - I think it's partially because a lot of this forum has been super negative the last two months.

@porjos

@porjos well stated. I'm in agreement. They clearly had a plan, and a very detailed one at that. For the level of investment that they had put in to this new platform, they couldn't afford NOT to. But that plan didn't have (and frankly, couldn't have had) contingencies in it for a total breakdown of this scale.

If you've ever tried to work with very large corporations, you'll know that they move at a GLACIAL pace. Things take ages. Also keep in mind, the Bronco program is one of dozens upon dozens of efforts that Ford is working on at any given time.

Their priorities and timeline simply can never match the expectations of a fanbase that is interested in just this one single project, regardless of how important it is to their bottom line.

@porjos

@porjos Totally agree with you! I feel like I should clarify with my previous comment that they had a plan, and didn't realize it was a bad one in light of COVID. Mainly that they had this big rollout just like you said, but they vastly underestimated how badly and how long they would be affected by it and that is their problem. If that had never happened then this would have been an amazing rollout I bet, but they just got caught flat footed and couldn't pivot.

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