Webasto investing $213M this year on MIC hard tops. Expects to build ~1 million roofs total for Bronco

[AZ_Liberty]

"According to an interview conducted by the team at Ford Authority, Ford hasn’t ruled out a fixed roof upscale Bronco. Although Ford envisioned most customers driving their Bronco with the roof off, there could still be room for a Land Rover Defender rivaling fixed-roof model."

I'm convinced a large chunk of folks who ordered an OBX would have been just as happy ordering a truck with a single-piece top and branded as a Lincoln instead of a Ford.

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[Calm horse]

Yeah I do remember that.

The wildcard with the hard top is shipping costs. It’ll have to be shipped via freight in a crate, which can be pricey—not something you can easily fit into a box on the back of your standard UPS/FedEx truck. If you order the hard top for the factory (or order dual top), the cost of shipping is absorbed into the overall cost to ship the vehicle to your dealer.

Personally I’m expecting for it to be mid-to-high $3000s. But I also didn’t expect to see gasoline prices above $4.50/gallon anywhere in this country except maybe California... and yet… here we are. So who knows what the world has in store for us.

I bet it's double...gonna be 6 to 7k

 

[BlueBronco]

Obviously far from an exact confirmed source, but it seems to be something that's being kicked around the office.

"Not ruling it out" is far cry from Ford stating there will be a fixed top model in the future.

 

[Razorbak86]

I'm convinced a large chunk of folks who ordered an OBX would have been just as happy ordering a truck with a single-piece top and branded as a Lincoln instead of a Ford.

No kidding, especially with all the whining about missing luxury vehicle features on a “$60,000 vehicle”. Sometimes I wonder if I accidentally stumbled into a luxury vehicle forum, and I find myself thinking, “Who are these people?!?”

 

[GreenMtnBronco]

I feel completely ripped off on the hard top issue.
first the dual top option was around $2500. Given that a soft top can be bought for about the same price, the implication is that a bronco is priced with a hard top.
next they induce us to get the soft top by offering a Hardtop prep kit
now to get a hard top cost around $9k in parts or buying the only available aftermarket one for around $7k delivered.
it would be great to see F offer hard tops via dealers for a price competitive with aftermarket jeep Hardtops

 

[FlyingBronco]

I feel completely ripped off on the hard top issue.
first the dual top option was around $2500. Given that a soft top can be bought for about the same price, the implication is that a bronco is priced with a hard top.
next they induce us to get the soft top by offering a Hardtop prep kit
now to get a hard top cost around $9k in parts or buying the only available aftermarket one for around $7k delivered.
it would be great to see F offer hard tops via dealers for a price competitive with aftermarket jeep Hardtops

Something Ford could do, but probably won’t, is offer the original MIC price to every Bronco owner who originally had a hardtop on their order, but switched to soft top. Ford could verify with each dealer based on DORA. Only catch would be that we, the customer, would be required to eat the freight cost.

 

[Lowcountry Bronco]

Do you know if the original bronco white tops were fiberglass or plastic? I’ve not seen one in person

The originals were metal and I think the FSBs were fiberglass.

What concerns me is that the $200 million is to be used just now to infuse money into mod top production. Meaning that it'll probably be a late avail for '23 for my second day reservation, great.

 

[Dayton1984]

The originals were metal and I think the FSBs were fiberglass.

What concerns me is that the $200 million is to be used just now to infuse money into mod top production. Meaning that it'll probably be a late avail for '23 for my second day reservation, great.

I hope you get yours sooner and sorry it’s taken so long. I’m hoping for the white MIC top with maybe Brittany blue or something if they come out with a new paint color even if 2024

 

[NatureMan]

No kidding, especially with all the whining about missing luxury vehicle features on a “$60,000 vehicle”. Sometimes I wonder if I accidentally stumbled into a luxury vehicle forum, and I find myself thinking, “Who are these people?!?”

They are former/current bmw and tesla owners.

 

[Tcbbronco]

Just goes to show you that being incompetent in private business is no different than government. They have 213M after botching this completely.

 

[JohnnyBronco]

Whats the point if the tops will continue to have a snakeskin appearance? I saw 4 version 2 mic tops this weekend in person and all were showing snakeskin appearance on the front 2 panels and were mismatched shades of grey compared to the rest of the top.

Was looking at shoes in Nike store, snakeskin is all the rage in $100 sneaks

 

[BrownHammer]

6 different tops? huh.

2dr MIC, 4dr MIC, 2dr MOD, 4 dr MOD... maybe the other two are some sort of power retract semi-hardtop like jeeps sky one touch.

Oh, most certainly. Powered roof option will be out by MY 2024 I bet

 

[sgraing1]

Day Late And A Dollar Short comes to mind. This applies to both Webasto and Ford Motor Company.

 

[Antimatter outer banks]

Yes they do, they made exactly what Ford told them to, it's just a shitty design. I was firmly in camp Webusted for a while too, but after noodling it over in my head for a bit, a couple of things occurred to me. Webasto makes roofs for LOTS of different companies. Those fancy glass roofs on BMW and Mercedes luxury cars? Webasto. Electronic convertibles for hard top convertibles? Webasto.

Do you really think that after all of that was used to build up a billion dollar business, that they'd just completely phone it in for Ford? No, Ford thought that a single millimeter of resin on top of cardboard was enough, and to save a few bucks on production time, they're just shaving the sides off instead of ensuring that there's a solid sealed edge on them.

Maybe I'm wrong, who knows, maybe they suck. But looking at the entire situation, including dropped valves, pulleys that eat cooling hoses, A pillars that leak water, convertibles that scuff the roll bar, body panels that are dented leaving the factory, unpainted door jambs, seats that don't match, dirt mountain, ice mountain, and any other thing I haven't listed, does one really think that this isn't all actually Ford's problem?

My bronco was built mid august I do not have the 2.7 but no issues with the drivetrain 3500 miles so far a pullers no problem. Soft top has plenty of clearance on roll bars Seats all match. Jams are all perfect I had a couple of chips in the right rear door. But more than likely from transport..

 

[Antimatter outer banks]

You literally took every single random complaint you've read over the past 2 years and attempted to state every bronco has this issue lol. I don't have a single issue you stated.

Yes well said neither do I have any of those issues!!!

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