📣 Ford announces MIC hardtop solution (program 21B49): unscheduled orders will get MY2022, delivered & built Broncos will have tops replaced

[silveragemarvel]

I am thinking about changing to a soft top. Do we know what the price of a new mic top once it becomes available? Will Ford price it over the cost of the current option at $695?

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[Science4Lyfe]

The design will look very much the same (and be the same color, to those of you asking). Main points to address in the update:

- Rolled /finished edges where there were formerly raw cuts.
- Thicker, more uniform outer layer of material.
- Improved injection process to fix forming issues in the clamshell.

Also, I've seen several people asking why they can't just get their truck now with a bad roof and replace it later. Two huge problems will prevent that from happening:
- Ford doesn't want any more "bad" units running around beyond the few hundred already out there.
- They want no part of shipping any more of these things than they already have to. Freight is going be enormous on them and there is a substantial risk of damage while shipping. I doubt they have a packaging and logistics plan for them but I can imagine it's going to be incredibly costly.

So do we really expect there to be no issues with a quickly redesigned hard top?

Hasn’t Ford already learned from their mistakes? Again they are making promises and I am about 95% certain there will be more issues with this rushed redesign/manufacturing process and we will again be having this discussion in October and November.

Scrap the hard top. Put soft tops on all of them to avoid another disappointment.

 

[FifthCard]

Man. I almost would consider switching to a soft top with the hard top kit but since I have a production date that keeps getting pushed I can't even change my order if I wanted to.

 

[notlimahttocs]

So, I'm trying to sort this out....I ordered a 4 dr BB/MIC/Automatic, I have a VIN and current scheduled build date of 9/20. I could switch to a soft top in hopes of getting my Bronco either on time or at least by the end of the year. However, since I have a scheduled build date, dare I assume I'll still get it by the end of the year with a "good" MIC hard top? Part of me says, "oooooo, switch to a soft top and I'll have a Bronco equipped to have a hard top and I can save money for two years and then get the hard top then and have BOTH." Another part of me is like, "fuck it, just wait it out longer in order to have delivery with a hard top." Bottom line, in either situation, I'm curious if one or both would result in a Bronco in my possession by the end of the year?

 

[martyb]

This has to be giving Ford executives terrible heartburn. Ford has too much invested in Bronco as a brand now to pull the plug but I bet it's been whispered about. Bronco has to be incinerating some serious capital at this point.

They will only care if it impacts their stock price. Expect some unrelated diversionary press release to focus the market far from this. 99.9% of the population doesn't even know there is an issue, and don't care.

 

[jay-rod427]

Silver lining. ALL commodities should be caught up by the time they get going again in 22! And when "full production" re-starts I imagine it will be VERY heavy Bronco over Ranger. So once they finally get their shit together they will pump them out at an incredible pace.

Shitty lining. Abandoned orders, dealer stock, and FCTP about to get a PHAT ADM.

I had hopes for a Spring 22 delivery, but now it looks like I may still be at least a year out.

 

[Rlack75]

Hey, you have every right to be a dick. This has been a mess.

The design issue is the unfinished edges. Initially, these were to be treated and sealed but it was never successful. The "coating" applied at the plant lasted for about a week, if that. The other issues plaguing the MIC top - thickness of outer ply, uniformity of material thickness, and forming issues within the clamshell - were perhaps made more challenging by the tooling but not necessarily impossible. This new design and tooling should aid in ALL these factors.

As for the 8/2 "full speed" production, that was the plan. Heels were firmly dug in on the engineering of the top and all fingers were pointed towards Plymouth. There was hope that the "best" of the roof units being delivered to MAP could at least be used to complete FE and stranded builds, but as more and more units were evaluated, it became clear that it was a bigger liability to release more of these out into the wild than to just scrap the thing and start over.

Like I said last night, this move HURTS... especially the "bad batch" crew of 2,200+ builds stuck at MAP, but it's absolutely the best way to address it at this juncture. A LOT of these headaches could have been alleviated by pulling the plug when the first issues became apparent, but that's not where we are.

I was hoping they’d give the Bad Batch the option of just getting a soft top instead of waiting for the hard top.
Any chance of that happening?

 

[RogueSqdn]

Earlier in the week you said I should be good, when mentioning that my build date was 8/11.

Does that still apply, or do you think the ones built this week will be ensnared by this delay?

Rereading the first page of the memo, it's talking about Jan-July builds.

 

[Lonestar777]

So, I'm trying to sort this out....I ordered a 4 dr BB/MIC/Automatic, I have a VIN and current scheduled build date of 9/20. I could switch to a soft top in hopes of getting my Bronco either on time or at least by the end of the year. However, since I have a scheduled build date, dare I assume I'll still get it by the end of the year with a "good" MIC hard top? Part of me says, "oooooo, switch to a soft top and I'll have a Bronco equipped to have a hard top and I can save money for two years and then get the hard top then and have BOTH." Another part of me is like, "fuck it, just wait it out longer in order to have delivery with a hard top." Bottom line, in either situation, I'm curious if one or both would result in a Bronco in my possession by the end of the year?

Nope. Once you have a VIN and build date you can't change your order. We're stuck in limbo.

 

[BroncoDymond88]

I love how they just listed out what customer incentives they've already given us and didn't announce any new ones, especially for the #badbatchbroncos.

 

[DFNMAN]

So I am getting pushed to a model year that doesn't offer my ordered color?

 

[Science4Lyfe]

So, I'm trying to sort this out....I ordered a 4 dr BB/MIC/Automatic, I have a VIN and current scheduled build date of 9/20. I could switch to a soft top in hopes of getting my Bronco either on time or at least by the end of the year. However, since I have a scheduled build date, dare I assume I'll still get it by the end of the year with a "good" MIC hard top? Part of me says, "oooooo, switch to a soft top and I'll have a Bronco equipped to have a hard top and I can save money for two years and then get the hard top then and have BOTH." Another part of me is like, "fuck it, just wait it out longer in order to have delivery with a hard top." Bottom line, in either situation, I'm curious if one or both would result in a Bronco in my possession by the end of the year?

The problem is you will end up waiting for the hard top and then come October, welp another issue! Delayed again! How can we believe any dates they promise anymore? It’s a joke at this point.

 

[FernieSanders]

Interesting the date on the awareness communication letter says July 21. I wonder if that is because this letter applies only to Broncos that were shipped. Does that mean Ford stopped shipping any hard top Broncos made after 7/21? My build date was 7/22. Missed it by that much (if I'm right). I'm just speculating...

does build date = blend date in this case? What if they started building my car but it never got a top? I had a 7/16 blend date.

 

[Gamecock]

They will only care if it impacts their stock price. Expect some unrelated diversionary press release to focus the market far from this. 99.9% of the population doesn't even know there is an issue, and don't care.

...and it doesn't. F is up this morning in a down market, and this info is now available to all of the analysts who cover Ford. People yesterday talking about shorting F because of this were off their rocker....unless they believe it speaks to deeper problems within the company, which could be valid. This on it's own though will make no difference at all to that valuation....as can be seen this morning.

 

[LHD]

So I’m screwed. Built 7/12 stuck in dirt mountain and likely there for another couple months AT BEST. I have parts lined up and waiting for a SEMA build and booth space slotted. At this point it looks like we will have to fill that space with an FJ40.

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