Can someone explain how this happens?

[skhubbard93]

If I had to guess, I would say that Ford has a problem when the basic assembly-line process fails. As soon as a vehicle falls out-f-process due to a quality test failure, mishap, missing part, whatever, it gets sidelined indefinitely because it costs a lot more to pay people to troubleshoot and fix individual issues with individual Broncos than it does to put more Broncos together. That works fine if you're shipping mass-produced vehicles where one is just as marketable as the next, but falls down when each vehicle has a name on it.

I wrote something similar about this on another thread, in regard to the "lost batch" that now seems to be inhabiting Ice Mountain.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/tracking-for-remaining-my21-builds.24764/page-35#post-1107083

Ford needs to find a process fix for this. If I had to suggest one, it would be to market sidelined vehicles to dealers in something like an auction; in other words "We don't know when this 4D/BL/2.7/AMB will ship, but when it does we will be willing to invoice it to you at the auction price." If there's plenty of market, dealerships will bid for it. In the meantime, Ford could then arrange a new replacement VIN for the waiting customer order-holder and accelerate that in the line. The customer "wins" because they get their Bronco as quickly as practicable (other things being equal). Ford wins because they (a) have a happier (or at least less unhappy) customer, invoice/sell both Broncos at decent prices, and offer a benefit to their dealerships rather than a liability. And both the order-holding dealership and the bidding dealership win because the one ends up with a happier (or less unhappy) customer, and the other ends up with a Bronco that they believe they can sell at a markup. Who loses in this scenario? Well, if you wanted AMB and your late-2021 Bronco got sidelined, you might miss out on your favorite color. So perhaps an option can be given to the order-holder to hold or swap.

Just spit-balling here. It's clear that there is a flaw in the current build-and-deliver process that is incompatible with custom-order-based production.

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[RubiconSasquatch]

…snipped….

Just spit-balling here. It's clear that there is a flaw in the current build-and-deliver process that is incompatible with custom-order-based production.

I agree with you 100%. I think the major issues are that a) Ford never expected this to be a customer-order-based production - COVID made that happen - and b) approx 100 years of selling cars through dealerships means a massive ecosystem that is not only slow to change direction but could be devastating to the brand, the company as a whole, etc.

Yes, they took reservations. At $100 a pop it’s very clear that they were using that as a way to measure and generate demand, not signaling a shift towards a different kind of sales pipeline.

I’d love to see all car brands sell direct to consumers. Tesla, Rivian, et al have a distinct advantage in that they have zero obligations to protect dealer territories, inventories, etc. I think for the big brands to survive another 100 years they will have to make this change. It just isn’t as simple as deciding to do it.

 

[Squatch]

The answer by the Ford apologists:

This really is about how they allocate parts from orders of them; whether internal orders or from a supplier. Ford guesstimated how many tow hitch receivers they would need for line production and how many they would need to stock in the warehouse to satisfy the parts counter and that all gets separated out in a method of accounting before Job 1. Once again, the bean-counters are ruining our buzz. However, it's just how large businesses are run.

 

[Biz]

Right there with you OP.
Reserved 08/14/20
Ordered 01/25/21
Built 12/10/21
On Ice Mountain Since 12/11/21

 

[Headsong]

The answer by the Ford apologists:

This really is about how they allocate parts from orders of them; whether internal orders or from a supplier. Ford guesstimated how many tow hitch receivers they would need for line production and how many they would need to stock in the warehouse to satisfy the parts counter and that all gets separated out in a method of accounting before Job 1. Once again, the bean-counters are ruining our buzz. However, it's just how large businesses are run.

Hey, don't blame us Bean counters. We work with information that we're given!

 

[Squatch]

Hey, don't blame us Bean counters. We work with information that we're given!

I apologize for the gross over-generalization. Someone at Ford should've realized they were throwing a block of pure sodium in a pool instead of table salt, but they decided--using the information lovingly prepared by the demigod bean-counters huddled around a burning trash barrel--to aim for a future time when demand normalizes rather than the initial surge; they're playing the long game like I am with this long sentence.

 

[RubiconSasquatch]

I actually don’t think they guesstimate how many to order and put stock in a warehouse. Quite a few years ago auto manufacturing shifted to a “just in time” methodology, where they establish vendor relationships and leave most of the warehousing to those vendors. They order from the vendors the parts they need for the currently scheduled builds, no more and no less. the same vendors are responsible for letting the manufacturers know what their capacity to supply looks like, but If the vendors suddenly can’t supply what they estimated or just have to lower their estimates… the whole thing gets delayed.

 

[Headsong]

Ford is indeed JIT. I suspect they stock items that might be in short supply.

 

[Owwwlick40]

New here. Wanted to share because this would be my first Ford.

I ordered in December 2021. Wasn't expecting it until 2023. All of a sudden, an email shows up in January saying it was in production. Dealership then tells me in February, that it would be on their lot at the end of March.

No idea how it happened so quickly and I haven't heard much from the dealership afterwards. I guess it could be because of how stock I kept the BD.

2-door Black Diamond
Mid package, Automatic, 2.3L

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