Build & Price Update from Ford – Q&A with Bronco Brand Manager

[Old Guy]

I thought these guys did all right. As mentioned, these guys are designated messengers, and are getting shot at for it.

There is a difference between mistakes and rectifying those and deliberate deception. There is simply no upside to deception in this type of business, and to think its deliberate bait and switch is naïve. One can rant and vehemently oppose that, but it doesn't change it.

I have had the job of giving the bad news to a customer to clarify an error, and given that job to those who work for me to carry out also. I think their lack of much emotion is about the best they could do. Happy and smiling and they are accused of it not being a big deal, saying they are sorry more than they did, wouldn't help either.

This would be normal tone in these types of Q&A sessions.

Good news for me, more Jeep buyers.

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[Norville]

I couldn't make it past seven minutes of this hot garbage. Simple fact is they backpedaled on the already inflated pricing as a cash grab knowing cancellations would not overtake in losses those willing to put up with their BS.

 

[BroncoBoy22]

No comments on color matched tops! I understand that they will be late availability I just want to be able to order a bronco the way that I want it without abandoning my reservation (for the queue order not the $100). If I have to wait longer after that it is on me. I really want to order but may decide to pass until it is added.

Unfortunately color matched tops won’t be an option until ‘22 MY. That was confirmed a while back. But the way they get info out sucks so can’t blame you for not knowing

 

[Norm A.]

This was another revelation I had at beer 2. Who needs door condoms when you have carpet?!

What happens if your front doors hook up with the back doors and you have two little rear doors ?

 

[Razorbak86]

Here's the bumper sticker I'm gonna put on my model year '21 Bronco. That way the service reps will know what to expect when I take it in for warranty work every few months for the first 3 years.

There should be an annual BronCoVID Rally held at the Holly Oaks ORV Park in Michigan just for MY21 Broncos. 2021 can be the inaugural year, with Jim Farley as the MC. Make it happen, Ford.

 

[Mac n cheese 76]

I’m done with this crap. I’ll roll with my current vehicle. I really like the bronco, but I’ll wait a couple years until Ford figures all this out.

 

[shoelessjoe]

The B&P in my opinion were not errors; they were opportunities for Ford to make more money.

When has auto transmission ever been free on a vehicle when a manual transmission is offered?

 

[BroncoBoy22]

Lots of crappy news from this vid. Here are some workarounds that hopefully help:

1) No tow package on 4 Door FE - Can prob order the parts separately, how long they will take to come in is a diff question

2) No roof rails with 4 door SAS -Can prob order the parts separately, how long they will take to come in is a diff question

3) if you want Dual Tops with the MIC Grey (4 door) and don’t want to wait, just order the MIC top and order the soft top as accessory later. The same trick does not work the other way around due to freight, availability of the tops, and lack of electrical and plumbing connections if you start with just a soft top

——————

I appreciate Esteban doing this vid. But there is no excuse at how crappy B&P is or why it takes SO LONG for very simple updates. Either the folks working on it are bad at their jobs or the code is terribly poor. They really need to rethink the way that tool is created and maintained going forward. It’s really really bad. I propose they start from scratch on something modern that is easily update-able. I guarantee they’re running off some super old framework that one person knows how to update and he or she is very slow. Happens all the time at companies that have been around for awhile and don’t know how to stay up to date on technology

 

[kimmnen]

I want FMC to succeed. My first vehicle was a Ford, and while I don’t have any particular brand loyalty to them, I used to look at Ford as one of the great American companies who were doing things right. Now I’m not so sure.

There are some very serious problems going on here (beyond just covid problems that everyone is dealing with) with those that own the Bronco project that need to be addressed. And since EVERY problem at EVERY level of an organization is, ultimately, a leadership problem; we can only look to those in charge for answers. This isn’t an Esteban problem, it’s not a Mike Levine problem. I might hate the blatant lies coming out of their mouths, but they probably do too. They aren’t the ones making the calls here, they’re merely controlling how that information is disseminated to us.

It’s their leadership that is making these calls and that has decided over and over to lie to their prospective customers. The day they realize that telling us the truth is far better than telling obvious lies and having us guess what the real problem is will be the day things start to go more smoothly.

Ford please be straight with us, tell us you’re still having issues finalizing tops, tell us the second row seat backs are carpeted because this is an evolving process and there was only so much design bandwidth allocated for MY21. Start being straight with us because people outside the off-road world are starting to notice this launch and it isn’t playing well.

Can you state the lies?
I hear things I do not like in the way of availability of options I want or avoiding possible weight issues with roof racks or deadeners but I don't look at it as lies.
I know there are endless government regulations etc. that they have to deal with along with testing and prove-outs in addition to new regulations with covid that impede the processes. Up until they actually take orders, I don't think they really have to share any information with us but I am glad there is an attempt. Our reservation is a courtesy enabling those interested in a Bronco a spot in line. We have a lot of expectations with that reservation but we cannot force Ford to produce a Bronco now in the same way Ford cannot force suppliers to produce and supply parts and assemblies especially with all the covid restrictions that vary from state to state and country to country. I feel they are being straight with us. Each day they are met with new challenges much of what then counters information they just shared. They are now tasked with dealing with the new setback or obstacles and they should do not have to come back and update us again. Too much information or sharing of details is not productive and they will not use suppliers and the like as scapegoats. Ford is looking for every resource to supplement the supply line as needed. They will update us when they have enough information to share.
There are benefits with the delays. If you have a FE reservation, the delays in launch have enabled an interior color option that would have never happened. I expect there will be other improvement/engineering changes that will be moved up with the delays some of which we will never know.
The whole vehicle is an evolving process (engineering & design changes) and much of what we see is targeting Jeep with cost savings in non-key areas that do not down grade but are competitive like carpeted seat backs. Some are seeing features that are on the Sport and want the best of both worlds, Sport and Jeep Wrangler. I like and want the Sport seatbacks. The carpeted seatback has their attention but do we want to hold up getting this vehicle launched because of a seatback. If there are additional setbacks maybe we will see it moved up but for now it does not seem to be an issue across town. Maybe they have an upgraded or factory option but I am not aware of it.

 

[Hank 615]

I know it's just a car but good lord I wish I could get away with being as bad at my job as the Bronco team is at theirs

 

[PSUTE]

Some are stressing over bullshit. Ford is doing everything they can to keep the weight under. Inoculating themselves from billion dollar class action lawsuits. Aftermarket is your friend. Just like towing capacity, Some are surrendering common sense for numbers required for arbitrary weight restrictions to keep Broncos in a certain weight class. Ignore it and use common sense, and the accumulated wisdom of posters up in here if you lack your own experience to make a decision.

 

[corey07]

What happens if your front doors hook up with the back doors and you have two little rear doors ?

See!! That's what 2 beers can get you....ignore my bad advice. Few things are 100% effective. Better have those door condoms (all 4) to go with the carpet. Double up....

 

[Jak]

It looks like it's not worth watching the video, but I will ask for the people who have watched it, is the weight consideration for safety concerns or to keep the vehicle in a specific weight class?

If it's the latter, then we could just add the extras after?

 

[PSUTE]

It looks like it's not worth watching the video, but I will ask for the people who have watched it, is the weight consideration for safety concerns or to keep the vehicle in a specific weight class?

If it's the latter, then we could just add the extras after?

Being as the video was brought to you by Ford lackeys, draw your own conclusions....

 

[BroncoBoy22]

It looks like it's not worth watching the video, but I will ask for the people who have watched it, is the weight consideration for safety concerns or to keep the vehicle in a specific weight class?

If it's the latter, then we could just add the extras after?

The latter and yes

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