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

[phocion]

For those without a VIN, MY22 should have been expected even before this news. But this news means more delays.

I would not be optimistic at all about many of these MY22 being first half of 2022 deliveries. Maybe the early (first 72 hours) reservations.

Bottom line is, don't think being MY22 means being January 2022. Be prepared to wait.

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[Thekev87]

This will probably get lost in the mess...but I have a VIN and a 4 door MIC base that is/was scheduled for Aug 30 week build...anyone know if there will be anyway I can switch to a soft top to avoid another two-three month wait my car situation currently is not ideal or am I just f'ed because of the VIN alreadybeing issued?

 

[FourHorses]

Well I sold my daily in May... I reserved a Maverick yesterday in preparation. I guess I'll buy/order it and drive it until my Bronco is made. Looking to be late next year or 23 at this point. I guess 40 mpg is a decent consolation prize.

oh, in addition...

 

[ramblinwreck]

The critical info missing here is the price of the accessory hardtop. It's insane that such a thing won't be available until 2023 (!!!), but it's difficult to decide whether to switch to a soft top now without knowing how much $$$ that accessory hardtop will cost down the road. Major fail.

Accessory hardtops will be $3k-$5k delivered.

 

[scottfwalter]

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?

Even if it's the same price the freight cost will probably be high.

 

[AK SNO RIDER]

I don’t know how this timeline enables them to make close to 6K FE’s by year end.

It doesn't. It's just not happening, and they won't admit it. Wouldn't wanna lose some sales with a little honesty! Ford is going to be shipping out FEs in 2022 calling them 2021s. This is fucked.

They should just ship them out with bad roofs and fix it later. They're trying to save money, as if they aren't just gonna charge Webasto for everything anyway.

Saving money at the cost of customer satisfaction. Good ol' Ford. I can't imagine what the #badbatch crew is gonna receive...vehicles exposed to elements and probably industrial fallout for months on end...

 

[Fordhammer]

No. MIC hardtop production for unscheduled First Edition builds will resume late this year with the updated hardtop design. I wouldn't expect this until probably November, as the new tooling still needs to be completed, installed, and tested before production of the new hard tops can begin. Once that happens, they have committed to building new MIC hardtops for all units that have already been delivered, then the "bad batch" Broncos trapped at MAP, THEN for production of new units.

Ross, roughly how many bad hardtops have been delivered ?
Also by " bad batch" I assume you mean every MIC top built through today , on hold at MAP.

 

[smoot618]

I wonder if we can still switch to a soft top and get a 2021. I'm VIN-less, but had I known there was zero chance of a build this year, I'd have switched. I just figured I'd be in line with other hard tops. Now I know there is no line

Edit: now that the full FAQ is added, changing to a soft top is still okay to do.

I bit the bullet and switched to a soft top beforehand, but that looks like it didn't matter now....

 

[Jmor]

FORD Corporate Headquarters

Please Disperse Nothing to see here!!!!

 

[TroutBronc]

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.

For me and many others the build date is a day (or 2) after the blend date. Should be the date by the "in production" stage in the tracker.

 

[WuNgUn]

For those without a VIN, MY22 should have been expected even before this news. But this news means more delays.

I would not be optimistic at all about many of these MY22 being first half of 2022 deliveries. Maybe the early (first 72 hours) reservations.

Bottom line is, don't think being MY22 means being January 2022. Be prepared to wait.

I don't think this needed to be said, at this point.... Lol
MY22 could mean August 2022 for some! Maybe even later...
I have to assume a good amount of day 1 and 2 rez holders have their Bronco already or at least VIN's

 

[BigTex]

Updated by Administrator with full FAQ and Customer Satisfaction Program info.

Full Order Holder FAQ:

Awareness Communication - Upcoming Customer Satisfaction Program 21B49
(Certain 2021 Model Year Bronco Equipped with a Hard Top Roof Roof Panel Delamination)

Some extra info from @PREMiERdrum



All new tooling and an altered design. It became quite clear that even when manufactured exactly to spec that the design was flawed.

The timeline here is optimistic, but the right move nonetheless.


No. MIC hardtop production for unscheduled First Edition builds will resume late this year with the updated hardtop design. I wouldn't expect this until probably November, as the new tooling still needs to be completed, installed, and tested before production of the new hard tops can begin. Once that happens, they have committed to building new MIC hardtops for all units that have already been delivered, then the "bad batch" Broncos trapped at MAP, THEN for production of new units.



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.

Note:

Lots of people are assuming this means a new supplier, but I don't have any confirmation of that. From what I can tell, this new tooling for the MIC hardtops is being designed and paid for by Ford and will be installed at the Plymouth plant for Webasto to produce.

The MOD tops coming in 23 are from a new supplier that has yet to be publicly identified.

Thank you for your time and all the information you’ve shared. My build date for 4dr FE was/is tomorrow 8/13. Are you saying I’m getting pushed to Novemberish?

 

[abe]

I gotta be honest, I was expecting much worse news.

 

[JDHNRV]

Just switched from MIC to soft and dropped the tow package. I was feeling so good about standing strong behind the MIC top, too. Oh well . . .

 

[KTP 30]

I would be interested in knowing if this was a design flaw or a manufacturing/production issue.

If a design flaw, then Ford screwed the pooch. Design issues should have been rigorously vetted when they were making prototypes. I can’t imagine a lead engineer would have kept a design flaw quiet. UNLESS management made the decision to go into full production KNOWING about the design flaw and hoped that while in production it would get fixed. They put too much faith in Webasto and didn’t account for a once in a generation pandemic.

If this is because of manufacturing/production incapability, I’ll give Ford a little grace (not much, but a little). It’s hard to simulate full production in a brand new vehicle with all new design. Getting a plant up and running to full production like Webasto takes years to establish. They would of had to have the foresight in 2017-2018 to move all production and major suppliers to the US, knowing there would be a global shutdown. Like most have said, the majority of companies didn’t. Webasto also overprimosed and underdelivered. Although, I think Toyota is the best positioned from what I hear.

In my opinion, based on all that I’ve read on this forum and seen pics of, this was a design flaw.

At this point does it matter? In the end its all on Ford!!

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