How does dealer allocation work?

[birdieman]

New here and to the bronco world., great place and learning a lot. The upcoming heritage trim has me all in on ordering one. Just a little confused on how the process works. I know that current reservation holders/ existing orders are at the top of the list if they convert to the heritage trim. Since I am not one of those, i know that I will have to wait for the order banks to open(hopefully) and be at the bottom on the list.

I have located a couple of dealers that will order one for me and state they still allocation. Couple of questions. 1. Does that mean they could order any trim level? 2. can a dealer order one even though the order bank is not open since they an allocation left? 3. how does an allocated order compare to an existing order in regards to how it will take to get a built date. I saw something about a priority code of 80 for a dealer stock order and know the lower the code the sooner it will be here?

Thanks again for the help.

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[BlueBronco]

1. Dealers can only order Big Bend lower trim, non-Squatch flappy tops for dealer stock, no other trims.
2. No. See above
3. I don't think you have an understanding of allocations. Allocations are how many units a dealer gets per month regardless if it is an existing order, newly converted resservation or dealer stock order. Dealers only get a certain amount of allocations a month dependant on their size and sales history. If Ford produces an average of 12k Broncos a month, divide that by roughly 3300 dealers nationwide and you will understand that dealer allocations is the real constraint.

Now, you may be able to find a shady dealer to convert an abandoned res to a Heritage order and try to bypass COVP but don't be shocked when they surprise you with an ADM upon delivery. Also, Heritage editions we're supposed to be reserved for those with unfulfilled orders and reservations and may not be available to order if and when the order banks open up to public walk ins.

Lastly, take anything your dealer says with a huge grain of salt. They maye 'take your order' now, but in reality that order is most likely getting stuffed into a folder until the order banks open up. And no dealer truly has any open allocation unless they have zero orders.

 

[Lowcountry Bronco]

Ok, are you talking standard HE or the Limited HE?

My take and I'm sure you'll get better if you're talking standard HE.

1 yes/sorta
2 sorta, soft top BBs for dealer stock, not customer orders
3 if a dealer has allocation and truly no reservation orders then you would be at the top of the list at that dealer.

Now there are dealers out there with 100's of unfilled orders but the same limited allocation so they wait, month to month and unfortunately year to year until they move up the list.

HEs are supposed to start Q2 '23 but the Limited is just that, they get one allocated maybe two out of the whole lot. Is that the allocation your dealer is taking about?

Late edit: @Blue Bronco is absolutely correct, HEs are supposed to go to current order/reservation holders. Ford may change that once ordering opens back up, don't know. Any rate, I'd double check with your dealer and see what they're offering is on the up and up, looks like your in Augusta, that's a small town, can't see them having a huge allocation number but maybe they didn't have allot of orders and have already filled them.

 

[RagnarKon]

If you are talking about allocations in general (not Bronco specific)... here.

If you are talking about the Bronco allocations specifically, that is slightly different than "normal"... and info for that is near the bottom of the post here.

To answer your actual questions:

1. Does that mean they could order any trim level?

Yes dealers can order any trim level. However, if they don't have allocation that order will never get built.

2. can a dealer order one even though the order bank is not open since they an allocation left?

Order banks are open for dealers stock orders and carry-over retail orders.

3. how does an allocated order compare to an existing order in regards to how it will take to get a built date. I saw something about a priority code of 80 for a dealer stock order and know the lower the code the sooner it will be here?

There are three types of orders:

1. Retail orders - Orders with customer names attached. These orders are prioritized ahead of other orders and qualify for price protection. Currently the only retail orders that can be submitted are orders that are carry-over or are attached to a reservation.
2. Stock orders - Orders intended for dealer lots. Dealers can place stock orders today, but they are automatically prioritized behind all of their retail orders.
3. Fleet orders - Intended for fleet customers (businesses, governments, fleet management companies, etc.). These orders have a totally different set of rules so for the purposes of this conversation you can just ignore them.

If you do not currently have a reservation/order, your dealer can submit a stock order for your desired build. It probably won't get built since it is prioritized behind all of their retail orders, but they can do it.

 

[AZ_Liberty]

Ford produces an average of 12k Broncos a month, divide that by roughly 3300 dealers nationwide and you will understand that dealer allocations is the real constraint.

The 3300 Dealers figure is slightly misleading. Ford Motor Company has 3300 dealerships, but only about 2991 of those are Ford (branded) Dealerships. The difference is presumably stand along Lincoln Dealerships.

But even if the math is off by 10%, the point stands.

Ford is making about 600 vehicles a shift, and with part of that going to ranger, Ford is building 12k(ish) Broncos a month.

A big city dealership like Sanderson Ford in Phoenix which normally sells 500-800 vehicles a month is going to get a lot more allocation that the little dealership in the foothills that sells a dozen cars in a year.

Edit to add, a dealership with excess allocation just seems bizarre to me. In 2021, most dealerships here got roughly 1/4 to to 1/3rd of their orders as allocations, so my mid-size dealership with 420 orders got about 116. The big dealership with 2000 or so orders got about 400 allocations. The little dealership at the edge of town with 80 orders got 23 or so.

Our dealers are just getting Base orders which were ordered in March-April of 2021. They have another 18 months worth of orders which still need to be allocated.

 

[Newdoc]

The 3300 Dealers figure is slightly misleading. Ford Motor Company has 3300 dealerships, but only about 2991 of those are Ford (branded) Dealerships. The difference is presumably stand along Lincoln Dealerships.

But even if the math is off by 10%, the point stands.

Ford is making about 600 vehicles a shift, and with part of that going to ranger, Ford is building 12k(ish) Broncos a month.

A big city dealership like Sanderson Ford in Phoenix which normally sells 500-800 vehicles a month is going to get a lot more allocation that the little dealership in the foothills that sells a dozen cars in a year.

Edit to add, a dealership with excess allocation just seems bizarre to me. In 2021, most dealerships here got roughly 1/4 to to 1/3rd of their orders as allocations, so my mid-size dealership with 420 orders got about 116. The big dealership with 2000 or so orders got about 400 allocations. The little dealership at the edge of town with 80 orders got 23 or so.

Our dealers are just getting Base orders which were ordered in March-April of 2021. They have another 18 months worth of orders which still need to be allocated.

You have some good points. I will also add that due to allocations, you could have a large dealer buried in current rollover orders and ordering with them whenever the retail banks open would be a bad move. And you could have a small town dealer that has just a few remaining orders and some 2023 allocation remaining when order banks open. The problem is that both these dealers won't tell you about their current allocation status.

I was finally able to get the smallish dealer I ordered with to tell me the total orders they have remaining but no details on how old those orders are and what trims are ordered that might get pulled prior to my higher trimmed order.

 

[flip]

We've tried for the last couple of years to back into the "allocation" Ford has given us and never can make their formula work. The other parts is they aren't transparent in terms of showing other dealers allocation numbers which immediately makes you suspicious that it's not equally applied.

That said, what they project you're going to get and what you actually get is completely dependent on their ability to produce what they projected. If we don't get a single new bronco order this year, my projected allocation, assuming I get all of them, will only cover half of the current orders. It's possible some of that allocation may end up as "stock" if they still have commodity/supply problems which I think is stupid. Nothing being built right now should go to anything other than retail orders even if that means one of mine goes to another dealer's customer. Yea, we'd like to have units to sell but this looping nightmare is going to stop until they decide to only build retails, even if they're lower trim stripped down models. I'm sure there're plenty of those spec'd out there.

The situation as it sits now is they aren't taking new retail orders. Yes, some stock may be coming out but unless you tell your dealer to put you on the list for one of these lower trim models and be willing to wait and pay ADM, you'll have to wait until Ford decides to open the retail banks again. You may find some dealers that will tell you they can order you one just to get the hook in but in reality, it's probably not going to happen any time soon. Hate to sound negative but even if the bank opens up mid '23, I don't know if we're going to take any new business if there hasn't been significant progress getting our current backlog cleared out.

 

[BroncoA512021]

Did the dealer forget to mention they will charge ADM of 10-20K?

 

[Neigh]

If we don't get a single new bronco order this year, my projected allocation, assuming I get all of them, will only cover half of the current orders.

Were y'all offering any discounts or incentives for ordering or does your situation represent "natural" demand?

 

[flip]

Were y'all offering any discounts or incentives for ordering or does your situation represent "natural" demand?

We were pricing them at invoice like any other new Ford unit at the time. I think we upped it a bit for orders that were placed after Feb of this year (2022) but we're still under MSRP and don't have a doc or any other type of fees or add-ons. All of the folks that were pre Feb are still at invoice.

We've never played the pricing game because we want return business and feel that "nailing" someone because "you can" or the market changed and make it "OK", is a horrible way of doing business. You could say we're stupid and missing thousands of dollars in potential additional revenue but that's not how we see the relationship with our customers. I don't want to have to look someone in the eye in 3 years and try to explain why we buried them in a loan and owe more than what it's worth. The big dealers around us do it all the time and it's not a fun conversation to have even when it was done by someone else.

I don't know if it's any special pricing or anything like that as much as transparency, no fees and no games. Pretty much what we've been doing for the last 100 years.

 

[broncoj11]

It’s mad frustrating that @Ford Motor Company is forcing customers to wait multiple YEARS for a vehicle bc they want to appease to large dealers with this silly little allocation game. I remember in 2020 how much of an emphasis Ford placed on Bronco roll out being efficient….. it’s probably been as close to Murphy’s law as can be. Rant over lol.

 

[AZ_Liberty]

You could say we're stupid and missing thousands of dollars in potential additional revenue but that's not how we see the relationship with our customers.

Invoice vs. Sticker difference is what 20 bucks or so? Ok, I actually think it was $427 on mine.

The $500 BS "Doc fee" all our local dealers charge is more than the Invoice/Sticker spread. And it is complete BS, AAA would do it for free for members, and the Quick-Title place does title paperwork for $14 or so. It's about the purest profit line-item I can think of.

 

[BigFootie]

Invoice vs. Sticker difference is what 20 bucks or so? Ok, I actually think it was $427 on mine.

The $500 BS "Doc fee" all our local dealers charge is more than the Invoice/Sticker spread. And it is complete BS, AAA would do it for free for members, and the Quick-Title place does title paperwork for $14 or so. It's about the purest profit line-item I can think of.

Not sure where the $20 bucks comes from. Mine is about 1200 just at the start. If Flip is selling at invoice, that plenty of money left on the table not including ADM. Not all dealers charge 500 either. Granger is 180.

 

[AZ_Liberty]

Not sure where the $20 bucks comes from.

The 20 bucks was a joke. Difference between invoice and retail on mine was $427. A Badlands is quite a bit more.

Here is the thread:
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...o-invoice-price-msrp-price-list-jan-19.11504/

 

[BigFootie]

The 20 bucks was a joke. Difference between invoice and retail on mine was $427. A Badlands is quite a bit more.

Here is the thread:
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...o-invoice-price-msrp-price-list-jan-19.11504/

Ok, just wanted to make sure some of the newbie’s did not think the difference was only $20 between invoice and MSRP.

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