Ford has new painted MOD top supplier for Bronco after Webasto loses contract

[GRPinehurst]

Ford will probably not make a soft top for the 2DR. It is a safety issue where I think someone said they can only sell so many soft tops and I am sure those are wrapped up in the 4DRs.

If this is the case, I'll probably need to move on from the 2 door.

Why is a soft top 2 door a safety issue?

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[North7]

And Ford doesn't just take a chance and pick a contractor out of thin air. The require strong proposals, proof of engineering and production ability, past performance with large contracts.

So how did that process work out with Webasto, yeah, the same robust process, or lack of it, they used to pick the new one. And this time, they picked one in a panic, in months, not years.

Stay tuned...

 

[Tarheel_Wes]

Good news, if true. I have some experience with both manufacturing and contracts, and said a couple months ago Ford should cancel the Webslacko contract for "non-performance." I also said the people that think ramping up production of a simple item is difficult don't know history. In WWII most American companies were given gov contracts to change over from making typewriters to making M-1 Carbines, from plywood to making Higgins boats, from making blenders to making bombsights. It used to be standard procedure to have an item go from concept drawing to production in just a few months. What happened was....regulations and offshoring.

But a Modular top is NOT a complicated item. It's a half dozen composite shapes, with gaskets and latches. It's not a jet engine. Many aerospace or plastics companies could very quickly get these into mass production. They're going to test the MOD tops, work out the bugs this year and next spring, and have full production going when Ford said, 2023. If not sooner. Anyone (like me) that considered the MIC to be the "cheap, stop-gap top" can rest assured your soft top will let you enjoy a Bronco while waiting to snap a MOD top on it that year.

And Ford doesn't just take a chance and pick a contractor out of thin air. The require strong proposals, proof of engineering and production ability, past performance with large contracts. They'll kick Webslacko to the curb for being so hosed, and let a new company take up their niche. Competition is good....

To be clear, if I get a ‘21 or ‘22 with a soft top.....these mod tops that are being made in 2023 will be for all previous model years as well...and not just 2023 model year Broncos?

 

[Papa Smurf]

You’re absolutely right.

I’m taking delivery this week and ain’t mad.

The gripes here are largely bored contagion.

A lot of the gripes are from those whose Broncos have sat sunbathing at MAP for the last month.
Congrats on the delivery though. Hopefully Ford finds a way to ship ours sometime this month.

 

[SkyKing]

I don't see why Ford can't just build these themselves. To AZshot's point, during WWII, Ford was able to drop everything and produce 87,000 aircraft, with finished planes rolling off assembly lines in 6 months. But plastic roofs? No way that's too hard. Thank god B-17s didn't need plastic roofs or we'd be speaking german.

 

[Tom Ryan]

A lot of the gripes are from those whose Broncos have sat sunbathing at MAP for the last month.
Congrats on the delivery though. Hopefully Ford finds a way to ship ours sometime this month.

Seems like a lot of gripes here are from folks that reserved after 7/13. No one in that camp should be complaining about the roofs coming off the line right now. They should be happy to get one before a lot of other 7/13’s, if that’s the case. If they don’t get one of those bad roofs, then what’s the actual gripe? If they’re a 7/13 like me, it’ll get fixed eventually. Not much to fret about here.

 

[mpeugeot]

Good news, if true. I have some experience with both manufacturing and contracts...

But a Modular top is NOT a complicated item. It's a half dozen composite shapes, with gaskets and latches. It's not a jet engine. Many aerospace or plastics companies could very quickly get these into mass production. They're going to test the MOD tops, work out the bugs this year and next spring, and have full production going when Ford said, 2023. If not sooner. Anyone (like me) that considered the MIC to be the "cheap, stop-gap top" can rest assured your soft top will let you enjoy a Bronco while waiting to snap a MOD top on it that year.

And Ford doesn't just take a chance and pick a contractor out of thin air. The require strong proposals, proof of engineering and production ability, past performance with large contracts.

LOL, only to later find out that the contract was given to the Defense Logistics Agency for bidding and awarding... The DLA can make ANY contract into a nightmare... Maybe they'll award it to Lockheed-Martin's Composites Group??? LOL

 

[Papa Smurf]

Seems like a lot of gripes here are from folks that reserved after 7/13. No one in that camp should be complaining about the roofs coming off the line right now. They should be happy to get one before a lot of other 7/13’s, if that’s the case. If they don’t get one of those bad roofs, then what’s the actual gripe? If they’re a 7/13 like me, it’ll get fixed eventually. Not much to fret about here.

7/13 as well.

 

[Arrowbear Rider]

It's probably a capacity issue, along with already up and running production since so much is farmed out to suppliers. Building key components such as power train, frame/body and etc. and then assemble is what auto manufacturers do now a days.

Yes, Ford did ramp up in WWII, but then they did everything, but regs, environmental controls and the tech in cars compared to then, make something like a composite top easier to do at a supplier.

Add to that the video we saw of the flooding at MAPS and maybe there isn't anywhere in town that's up to par to develop in time... I hope the new supplier can come in and do all hard tops down the road. And quickly.

 

[WatchYourSix]

Seems like a lot of gripes here are from folks that reserved after 7/13. No one in that camp should be complaining about the roofs coming off the line right now. They should be happy to get one before a lot of other 7/13’s, if that’s the case. If they don’t get one of those bad roofs, then what’s the actual gripe? If they’re a 7/13 like me, it’ll get fixed eventually. Not much to fret about here.

I think they're justified at this point. This is one more issue in a long line of issues during this botched roll-out. We all know it's a new vehicle and these aren't ideal times but those aren't the only variables affecting the Bronco, and everyone knows it, whether they care to admit it or not.

 

[NatureMan]

Correct. Last I was told was that "the ink was drying" on the contract 3 weeks ago or so. I'm a bit surprised no specifics have been leaked out. Webasto has lost the contract for the MOD tops.

 

[Tom Ryan]

7/13 as well.

And if your dealer contacted you today to pick up your Bronco and even if you found that it had a bad roof, on a scale of 1 to ‘this thread,’ how upset would you actually be?

 

[Arrowbear Rider]

By the way, I did like AZshots post and agree with him in general, but I think what he wrote could, hope it could, be the same, for a new supplier that is already is the business some how. so yea, it could still happen faster.

 

[North7]

I don't see why Ford can't just build these themselves. To AZshot's point, during WWII, Ford was able to drop everything and produce 87,000 aircraft, with finished planes rolling off assembly lines in 6 months. But plastic roofs? No way that's too hard. Thank god B-17s didn't need plastic roofs or we'd be speaking german.

The B-17 did have a plexiglass nose, the navigators sun dome (roof), top turret gun and the windshields.

However, Ford produced the B-24 Liberators, not the Boeing B-17.
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