Ford Dealers May Not Have New Inventory Until August

[atonge40]

I sold my F150 to a dealer on Thursday so playing musical chairs with our cars, bought the wife a new one before there is NO inventory, then using hers for trade for whenever the Bronco shows up instead of the truck since its paid off. Oh and we bought a non Ford which I haven't done since I bought a Mazda like 2004 wasnt by choice, but there is no Ford inventory.

My neighbor ordered an Explorer. His Grand Cherokee lease was up so the dealer put him in an Explorer loaner until his order comes in. That was in January. He still has the loaner.

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[Tears5150]

The crazy part is that you know Ford's at the front of the line for stuff like this. Even the biggest companies in the US can't get what they need. The trickle down effect is gonna be insane. Don't even bother trying to call customer support. Every one of those people are in India and that place is a hot mess.

 

[jevus2006]

I can practically get what I paid for my Jeep 2 years ago selling it to Carvana. It’s insane and I am really considering selling it (private party)and just buying a beater to get me by lol.

Waiting for AutoLendersGo to come pick up my 2014 Ford Focus for $7k. I'm still working from home and even if I have to go back to the office, I bike and take the train to work. I was expecting to trade it in for $5k when the Bronco came in. Hopefully nothing dire changes in my life.

 

[Efthreeoh]

in theory, yes. but no one can match china's cost, so unless everyone is willing to pay 20%+ more for literally everything, we're beholden right now.

A shut down auto manufacturing plant is costing way more than 20% of chip cost. I can't believe some other chips manufacturer hasn't stepped in. In this day and age, computer chips aren't rocket science.

 

[RedHotFuzz]

The real problem is the next war will be both informational and economic, and China has the ability to employ both to strangle us. The US has morphed into a nation of consumers, not manufacturers, we make very little of what we purchase, and that needs to change or China will hold the power to shut us down.

It's quite terrifying how we have willingly ceded our destiny to the CCP.

 

[LostInArizona]

While I realize the construction effort, and everything else involved would take years and doesn't solve the immediate problem; This is one fantastic reason to bring at least "some" manufacturing back to the US. We've systematically shut down ALL of the rare earth material mines in the US, largely due to "environmental concerns." Such that we rely on China entirely, and that is not good in the long run. I'm not saying we shouldn't or couldn't source some materials from elsewhere, and I also understand this is might be particularly influenced by covid issues, but this situation is highlighting the problems with not diversifying our sources of such materials and components.

Yes, I am playing arm chair industrialist here, and I have no doubt there are other complications, reasons, or cost concerns, but it couldn't hurt to at least spin up more manufacturing back home and perhaps re-open some of the mines. Maybe look at other developing and under-developed countries as a source for some of those materials to help reinvigorate their economy to spread the wealth as well as the environmental impact? China is and always will be a bottleneck, it is essentially a dictatorship with it's hand on all the valves that control the flow of rare earth materials and components built with those materials, to the rest of the world. To put things into perspective, they literally supply 95% of the global supply of rare earth materials used in chip production! It is estimated that they only account for 30% of the rare earth material reserves however, so yea there is opportunity there to find other sources, but China has basically monopolized the industry by undercutting everyone, putting them out of business. They've also actually bought up controlling shares of rare earth mines that still exist/operate in the US and elsewhere, like Molycorp and Mountain Pass in California. Definitely some questionable business ethics/tactics there.

 

[RedHotFuzz]

MY21, welcome to 2022. MY22, welcome to 2023.

Seriously, just call them all 2022's now. The 2022 Acura MDX is already sitting on dealer lots. Ford's insistence on clinging to the 2021 designation at this point is just baffling.

 

[JesseS]

It's quite terrifying how we have willingly ceded our destiny to the CCP.

I agree 100%.

 

[timhood]

in theory, yes. but no one can match china's cost, so unless everyone is willing to pay 20%+ more for literally everything, we're beholden right now.

Time to invest more in India.

 

[s_white21]

Not only is the new supply bad, used prices are through the roof. Something you may have bought $3,000 back from retail a year ago is going for $3,000 over now. Had one we booked out that average auction was $4K over what the guy paid for it two years ago. Absolutely nuts right now.

This is working out in my favor. My wife's lease Explorer (that we're turning in for our Bronco) has over $7000 in equity (minus MI sales tax) due to low miles from sitting at home from covid and astronomical used car prices.
Our buyout price is 22.5k and Carvana/CarMax are offering 31k and dealer confirmed they will match.

 

[OhhhhhhSnap]

While I realize the construction effort, and everything else involved would take years and doesn't solve the immediate problem; This is one fantastic reason to bring at least "some" manufacturing back to the US. We've systematically shut down ALL of the rare earth material mines in the US, largely due to "environmental concerns." Such that we rely on China entirely, and that is not good in the long run. I'm not saying we shouldn't or couldn't source some materials from elsewhere, and I also understand this is might be particularly influenced by covid issues, but this situation is highlighting the problems with not diversifying our sources of such materials and components.

Yes, I am playing arm chair industrialist here, and I have no doubt there are other complications, reasons, or cost concerns, but it couldn't hurt to at least spin up more manufacturing back home and perhaps re-open some of the mines. Maybe look at other developing and under-developed countries as a source for some of those materials to help reinvigorate their economy to spread the wealth as well as the environmental impact? China is and always will be a bottleneck, it is essentially a dictatorship with it's hand on all the valves that control the flow of rare earth materials and components built with those materials, to the rest of the world. To put things into perspective, they literally supply 95% of the global supply of rare earth materials used in chip production! It is estimated that they only account for 30% of the rare earth material reserves however, so yea there is opportunity there to find other sources, but China has basically monopolized the industry by undercutting everyone, putting them out of business. They've also actually bought up controlling shares of rare earth mines that still exist/operate in the US and elsewhere, like Molycorp and Mountain Pass in California. Definitely some questionable business ethics/tactics there.

This is not true, at all...

You realize one of the biggest silica mines is right here in the great ol USA?


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Pine_Mining_District


All this talk about China when in reality they only manufacture 20-25% of the worlds supply while they consume 60% of the worlds chip supply.

 

[LostInArizona]

This is not true, at all...

You realize one of the biggest silica mines is right here in the great ol USA?


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Pine_Mining_District


All this talk about China when in reality they only manufacture 20-25% of the worlds supply while they consume 60% of the worlds chip supply.

Silica, while used in chip production, is not considered a "rare earth" material to the best of my knowledge. I didn't say "all mines" shut down, I said all rare earth mines shut down, which is a true statement. That's not to say other products used in chip manufacturing aren't still mined in the US. The last of the major rare earth mines in the US was Mountain Pass mine in Cali, although I believe they are attempting to reopen that under new ownership which largely includes a Chinese based investment firm.

Also I didn't mention nor was I specifically talking about actual chip manufacturing itself, I am talking strictly about the materials here. They are used in not just chips, but batteries, circuit boards, TVs, various chemicals and solvents, and countless other products that every other country in the world relies on. Like I said I m not suggesting THIS is the cause of the current shortage, I'm simply saying we rely TOO much on China for materials that are only going to increase in demand as time goes on.

 

[markregel]

According to AN's Mike Martinez, dealers may not get new inventory until August. The chip shortage continues to get worse for Ford. This doesn't bode well for anyone, especially dealer salespeople.



The article is paywalled, but here's the link: https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/chips-put-brakes-fords-progress

Sad we are so dependent on China and other countries for practically everything. Your iPhone says "Designed in California made in China". Bull crap its designed in CA its merely styled in CA all the real technology and parts is from overseas.

 

[Monster1926]

A shut down auto manufacturing plant is costing way more than 20% of chip cost. I can't believe some other chips manufacturer hasn't stepped in. In this day and age, computer chips aren't rocket science.

There’s only 3 chip manufactures for the world. Intel is the only US based manufacture. They’re years BEHIND the competition.

 

[markregel]

This is not true, at all...

You realize one of the biggest silica mines is right here in the great ol USA?


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Pine_Mining_District


All this talk about China when in reality they only manufacture 20-25% of the worlds supply while they consume 60% of the worlds chip supply.

The other 75% is NOT coming from the USA. What he said about rare earth metals is true and well known. I work for a manufacturing company and everything 99.9% comes from overseas mostly China. A "Made in USA" label means nothing merely packaged in the USA. The fact you don't think this is a problem only illustrates the gravity of the situation.

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