How do I know if a Ford dealer is "bigger" than another one?

[gaaangs]

I am going to submit a pre order and am between two dealerships. Preferable I would go with the dealership that is larger and gets more allocation. How do I find this out?

Been searching the forums and cant find it. Any help would be appreciated.

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[mx6bfast]

You could ask, but be prepared for them to lie.

 

[Gizmo]

I am going to submit a pre order and am between two dealerships. Preferable I would go with the dealership that is larger and gets more allocation. How do I find this out?

Been searching the forums and cant find it. Any help would be appreciated.

Great question, I have been wondering the same thing.

 

[zombie]

Look at their current inventory?

 

[Rspayde]

The bigger the dealer the more allocations but also the more orders they have jammed up in front of your order.

It also is going to get really weird really fast with the shift from everyone and their mother wanting SAS, LUX, MIC to being forced into the "non constraint" builds. Just guessing here but forcing all to change will lead to constraints.

I would just put in the order and be prepared to wait.

 

[RagnarKon]

The bigger the dealer the more allocations but also the more orders they have jammed up in front of your order.

Bingo.

It doesn't matter how many allocations a dealer has. What matters is how many allocations a dealer has RELATIVE to their total number of orders. If you go to a giant dealer, but that dealer also has a ton of orders... then you're screwed. Likewise... if you go to a smaller dealer and they have only one or two orders, then you are probably golden.

Allocations are roughly tied to overall sales volume, so you can use the size of the lot/building as a rough measuring stick. If they are a large volume dealer they'll likely have a nicer building and a larger lot. I would also ask them how many outstand Bronco orders and existing pre-orders they have. If they have a ton, probably not a good sign.

Admittedly there is no perfect science to this. Personally I went to the best performing dealer in my state that didn't heavily advertise online. The dealers that did heavily advertise online (Granger, Chapman, etc.) got slammed with too many orders and not enough allocation.

 

[broncoj11]

Bingo.

It doesn't matter how many allocations a dealer has. What matters is how many allocations a dealer has RELATIVE to their total number of orders. If you go to a giant dealer, but that dealer also has a ton of orders... then you're screwed. Likewise... if you go to a smaller dealer and they have only one or two orders, then you are probably golden.

Allocations are roughly tied to overall sales volume, so you can use the size of the lot/building as a rough measuring stick. If they are a large volume dealer they'll likely have a nicer building and a larger lot. I would also ask them how many outstand Bronco orders and existing pre-orders they have. If they have a ton, probably not a good sign.

Admittedly there is no perfect science to this. Personally I went to the best performing dealer in my state that didn't heavily advertise online. The dealers that did heavily advertise online (Granger, Chapman, etc.) got slammed with too many orders and not enough allocation.

I have a stupid question. Why is Ford using allocation when it seems to cause more harm than good? Customers across the nation are getting screwed and have been waiting for years and might not ever get their bronco bc of this formula. Why not do away with it? Why not prioritize time stamp instead? I know they can’t build broncos they don’t have the parts for. But when someone who has the same or more constrained build as me and ordered 6 months after I did points to dealer allocation. Which is infuriating honestly.

 

[mx6bfast]

I have a stupid question. Why is Ford using allocation when it seems to cause more harm than good? Customers across the nation are getting screwed and have been waiting for years and might not ever get their bronco bc of this formula. Why not do away with it? Why not prioritize time stamp instead? I know they can’t build broncos they don’t have the parts for. But when someone who has the same or more constrained build as me and ordered 6 months after I did points to dealer allocation. Which is infuriating honestly.

not a stupid question, its what we have been asking for years.

 

[shieldsy]

I have a stupid question. Why is Ford using allocation when it seems to cause more harm than good? Customers across the nation are getting screwed and have been waiting for years and might not ever get their bronco bc of this formula. Why not do away with it? Why not prioritize time stamp instead? I know they can’t build broncos they don’t have the parts for. But when someone who has the same or more constrained build as me and ordered 6 months after I did points to dealer allocation. Which is infuriating honestly.

The dealers are Ford's customer not us. From that perspective it makes sense for Ford to spread out their product to their entire network in an equitable manner. Those dealers move more Ford products than just the no brainer sale of a Bronco.

Never forget, as an end buyer, you quite literally don't matter to Ford. Their decisions will always be based on benefiting themselves and their true customers, their dealers.

 

[flip]

Name the dealers, I can probably see who has more sales volume but there are a ton of other factors that influence their allocation.

 

[broncoj11]

The dealers are Ford's customer not us. From that perspective it makes sense for Ford to spread out their product to their entire network in an equitable manner. Those dealers move more Ford products than just the no brainer sale of a Bronco.

Never forget, as an end buyer, you quite literally don't matter to Ford. Their decisions will always be based on benefiting themselves and their true customers, their dealers.

That makes sense. Wish ford would just say this… are there any other 4x4 brands that ARENT like this??

 

[broncoj11]

Name the dealers, I can probably see who has more sales volume but there are a ton of other factors that influence their allocation.

John Vance Country Ford of Guthrie Oklahoma. This would be a huge help for me man, they either ignore me or treat me like I’m making shit up.

 

[RagnarKon]

I have a stupid question. Why is Ford using allocation when it seems to cause more harm than good? Customers across the nation are getting screwed and have been waiting for years and might not ever get their bronco bc of this formula. Why not do away with it? Why not prioritize time stamp instead? I know they can’t build broncos they don’t have the parts for. But when someone who has the same or more constrained build as me and ordered 6 months after I did points to dealer allocation. Which is infuriating honestly.

It's in the dealer contract, and in some cases encoded in state law. Ford assigns allocations based on previous sales performance and market basket analysis. It has always been that way for all of Ford's vehicle lines. And the majority of the other manufacturers (GM, Honda, Toyota, etc.) use a very similar approach. I'm not aware of any manufacturer that doesn't use this approach, but admittedly I don't have personal experience with all of them.

For a new vehicle launch, the market basket analysis doesn't completely work because the sales history isn't there. So Ford will base it on pre-order volume or sales of a different but similar vehicle. As they start to get that sales history they will transition away from those different metrics and land back on sales performance and more traditional market basket analysis.

• 2021MY
  • 50% reservation volume
  • 25% Ford sales history
  • 25% competitor analysis (ie. Wrangler/4Runner sales)
• 2022MY
  • 50% Ford sales history
  • 25% 2021MY Bronco allocations
  • 25% Bronco Sport sales performance
• 2023MY
  • 50% Ford sales history
  • 50% 2022MY Bronco/Bronco Sport allocation

So... you can see as time has gone on they are transitioning away from their launch allocation model and back towards the typical allocation model.

If they don't follow the allocation model, then that opens Ford up to breach-of-contract lawsuits from dealers. That's the problem Ford is dealing with right now when it comes to their new EV certification program. Dealers are pissed that they could lose allocations due to this new EV program... and they are suing Ford over it.

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The reason why this became an issue is because a handful of dealers "over-sold" the Bronco beyond what their sales history could support. Back prior to the supply chain crisis, this probably wouldn't have been an issue. Sure some people would have waited longer than others, but it was reasonable to expect the vast majority of people would get their Bronco by the end of 2022.

Obviously that's not what happened, the supply chain crisis hit after the reservation system opened. Ford got burned with too many orders and massively inaccurate supply projections that required them to extend the price protection system through 2023MY... and the dealers that over-sold the Bronco got really burned because their past sales history just wasn't there to get them the necessary allocations.

 

[choppersean]

My only data point was from last year when I asked a similar question. "My dealer said" their original first-year Bronco allocation assigned to them by Ford was right at about 200 units.........which they never actually got, but at least it was something to go off of. A dealer here on B6G responded and said if they had that allocation they would be considered "big."

 

[HBTFD]

Only Ford has that data. Unscientific ways to figure out allocations - look at the number of salesmen, lot size, and do they sell to commercial accounts. Volume = more allocations. The allocations are for all vehicles, so for example a dealer can’t order 1000 mustangs and zero expeditions. Look for a dealer whose clients don’t buy broncos.

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