An open letter to Ford - Solution to Dirt Mountain

[Rlack75]

Appreciate the thoughtful response, however, hope is definitely not a good plan (and if hope is Ford's plan, I am worried). Ford better already have this sorted out by now.

As far as the PR hit, 6 months of Dirt Mountain Bronco Badges, is not going to go away anytime soon.

There 100 homes in my neighborhood and do you know how many know anything about the Bronco situation?
Probably 1

How many do you think feel the Bronco has been on the streets since last December?
They see them all of the time. Ha

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[WCP-82]

There 100 homes in my neighborhood and do you know how many know anything about the the Bronco situation?
Probably 1

How many do you think feel the Bronco has been on the streets since last December?
They see them all of the time. Ha

The Bronco Sport has been running interference. For those not in the know they are seeing the brand drive by them every few days.

 

[GravyTrain]

I know this is probably borderline crazy but what if, just maybe, Ford is setting are expeditions soooo low and will actually get our Bad Batch Broncos out much sooner. Actually, now that I wrote this I feel dumber. Oh well, let me have it. Bring on the comments and emojis.

 

[SpursFan]

95% agree with the thoughts and action plans however in the big production world and with the absolute strain on shipping right now it just won't work. My best wish is the expedite final QC and ship promptly...withing 3-4 days of top arriving.

 

[Efthreeoh]

Okay, for the love of Henry, the abbreviation for the Ford Motor Company is FoMoCo.

"FMC" is the abbreviation for Food Machinery Company.

 

[Rlack75]

I know this is probably borderline crazy but what if, just maybe, Ford is setting are expeditions soooo low and will actually get our Bad Batch Broncos out much sooner. Actually, now that I wrote this I feel dumber. Oh well, let me have it. Bring on the comments and emojis.

I actually thought the same.
That you should feel dumber!

Seriously I did have the same thought. Obviously they’ve know about this for quite some time. Broncos have been heading to Dirt Mountain for 2 months now!

 

[Desert_6G]

Ford will never ship the bad tops to dealers and them ship them near MIC. They won't go out and say it; but it's to expensive to ship a new hard top via freight to the dealers for every Bronco that needs one. It's expensive and they will have to repackage the tops for shipping them individually.

 

[Hitman]

I like it! I communicated today w a Ford employee and suggested giving those of us w Broncos, sitting at #DirtMountain, the option of replacing the defective MIC tops w soft tops then delivering them. This shouldn’t affect their bottom line profits and would significantly reduce the volume of vehicles sitting idle in the lot. It would reduce the headache Ford has and make a few of us future Bronco owners a little less frustrated! This could also allow Ford to resume builds and push out more Broncos for other waiting. I sensed, it wasn’t a good idea bc logic was involved…

 

[Permaxyz]

Ford will never ship the bad tops to dealers and them ship them near MIC. They won't go out and say it; but it's to expensive to ship a new hard top via freight to the dealers for every Bronco that needs one. It's expensive and they will have to repackage the tops for shipping them individually.

This. And they will not ship out bad quality vehicles.

I’ve spoken to two dealer owners that are going to bat for those Broncos in the cages, but there’s more reason to believe nothing will change compared to what could be. Get comfortable dirt mountain mafia. Recall has this project by the collar.

 

[Monster1926]

Dear Ford,

I can understand why Ford Motor Company (FMC) is unwilling to deliver Ford Broncos with defective tops (cosmetic or otherwise). Lots of excuses and rationalizations have been made as to why Dirt Mountain storage is the best path forward; however, this is not in the best interest of the customer or FMC.

Holding the Broncos at the Dirt Mountain storage complex exposes FMC to unnecessary liability and risk due to possible environmental hazards as well as potential unforseen hazards that could cause thousands of dollars in damage to the vehicles that Ford is currently holding. It is also causing additional hardship to some FMC customers, is a source of frustration for nearly all of the #BadBatchBronco owners, and is generating a great deal of unfavorable publicity for FMC.

There is a solution that may not have been seriously considered by FMC and I urge you to take this to FMC leadership as a possible opportunity to generate a more favorable response from customers.

The solution that I propose is a low cost alternative that reduces risk, increases the likelihood of customer satisfaction, and would increase profits through accessory sales. It consists of three important factors.

1. Ship all Dirt Mountain Broncos to the dealer with hardtops as built.

2. Require either the installation of the replacement V2 hardtop or require the purchase and installation of a softtop prior to the dealer delivering the vehicle to the customer. This would prevent the delivery of flawed tops, meet any regulatory requirements to supply hardtop equipped vehicles, and protect Ford's reputation as to the quality of the Bronco product line.

3. Ship replacement tops to dealers stacked on top of existing Bronco deliveries (these tops are designed to be stacked for shipping). This would essentially negate any significant costs of shipping tops to the dealerships separately and would allow local replacement of the tops by the local dealerships.

I urge Ford leadership to consider this plan as opposed to continuing to store Broncos at the Dirt Mountain storage complex at great risk to FMC. Delivery will increase customer satisfaction, decrease exposure to liability, and increase accessory sales for your dealership partners.

I cannot fathom how Ford can justify the cost and risk of continued Dirt Mountain Storage of the #BadBatchBroncos. I say this as a loyal and current owner of a Ford vehicle, as well as the owner of many previous Ford vehicles, please find a better way forward.

Sincerely,

Mark Peugeot
2021 Bronco 1FMDE5CP2MLA76229

Ford has insurance, they’re praying for a hail storm right now.

 

[mpeugeot]

I agree, that's why I acknowledged that delivery of V1 MIC tops is a no go. That doesn't mean that they can't ship them and replace them with a softtop for those willing to purchase one as a condition of early delivery.

2. Though there is tremendous customer dissatisfaction now with the delay, this is the most responsible course Ford could take.

I agree tremendous customer dissatisfaction is the reality. I disagree that this is the best COA possible, even though it may be the best COA they have been able to find to date.

3. The logistics and shipping costs to install the tops later, are likely double, as dealers will also be paid to complete the installation.

These are designed to be removed and installed by customers in about 15 minutes. If a 1/4 to 1/2 hour labor is excessive, well that is ridiculous, these are not complicated to install correctly (at least they shouldn't be when you expect customers to install and remove them).

4. There is also less chance the installs will be done incorrectly by doing them by FMC employees, rather than dealer technicians.

Seriously? If you believe that factory trained technicians are going to have difficulty with these tops, what do you think will happen when customers remove and install them?

Factory trained technicians are quite capable of handling the installation and removal of the factory designed customer removable tops!

5. When customers finally get their quality Bronco, they will be happy Ford made certain they were built right.

Certainly! And if they elect to wait, that would be fine too. Leave them at the Dirt Mountain storage complex. However, I would prefer to have mine now, even without ANY top.

There are likely many additional reasons to hold the Broncos till the tops are corrected.

I am quite sure that you are correct about this, but I am also not convinced that Ford has found the best path forward yet. Maybe there are things that I am unaware of, or completely ignorant of, but I want Ford to try to find a better solution. They are an innovative and creative company, so I remain hopeful that they can find a better solution.

 

[Wamland]

My trust in a dealership not selling those off for the highest dollar and letting the buyers deal with it is very low.

 

[Jabberwock]

I like it! I communicated today w a Ford employee and suggested giving those of us w Broncos, sitting at #DirtMountain, the option of replacing the defective MIC tops w soft tops then delivering them. This shouldn’t affect their bottom line profits and would significantly reduce the volume of vehicles sitting idle in the lot. It would reduce the headache Ford has and make a few of us future Bronco owners a little less frustrated! This could also allow Ford to resume builds and push out more Broncos for other waiting. I sensed, it wasn’t a good idea bc logic was involved…

Making enough soft tops to swap with all of the MIC tops isn’t something that can be done quickly. Could take close to the same amount of time as Fords solution of waiting to ship when the new MIC is installed.

Theres really just no good solution at this point. The problem should have been noticed long before they started cranking these tops out. I still don’t understand why the tops they installed on customer vehicles are different than the tops they’ve been using on test vehicles for over a year now, but I’m not an auto industry expert. Maybe someone that knows can chime in.

 

[Hitman]

I agree w u about the time to crank out soft tops, but what I understood from the announcement on delays, they were gonna make and deliver more Broncos w soft tops. I would expect them to produce these Broncos in batches of 550 per day or so. My thought is they would need to have inventory for those. Just a thought, but like u mentioned, I’m not an expert either.

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