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da_jokker

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I don't get it... How about instead of rewarding Webasto and having them build another location, why doesn't Ford just donit and build their tops "in house"

Why would you want to help expand a vendor that seriously f'd up your entire release.
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AcesandEights

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A couple observations/thoughts I take from this article:

1. Ford projected that 80% of buyers would get hard tops. When problems with Webasto came up, Ford strongly suggested order holders to switch to soft tops. Which looks to be about 20% of order holders did.
...
One of those points really stands out, number one. Ford projected 80% of buyers would get hard tops. If that's true, how on Gawd's green earth were they not prepared? How did they not get their ducks in a row, knowing up front they would have a 70% reservation to order conversion (projected months ago by Ford).

On July 30 there were over 150k reservations (https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/official-150k-bronco-reservations-received-already.3108/). Only a couple months later there were at least 190k reservations. So 70% of 190k is 130k orders and 80% would be hard tops, or 105k+. They knew that as of 3rd Qtr of 2020. So, they knew in 3rd Qtr last year they would need 105k+ hard tops.

This article, when objectively read, really shows the lack of leadership on Ford's part. It just reiterates they knew up front what to expect and failed to prepare for it.
 
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MayhemMike

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I could take this all in stride if it werenā€™t for Ford establishing a reservation system for the Bronco. It isnā€™t like they expected a demand of 50K vehicles and were slammed with 200K orders. They were aware of the demand plain and simple. Fact is, they have dropped the ball big time with this vehicle. A billion dollars gross in potential initial sales and they screw it up this bad. Heads should roll.
 

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Mjtermini

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Perhaps because no soft top exists for the 2-door?
I get that a lot of the 2-door folks wish it was an option (and why it was never offered is a valid issue), but not like it's going to suddenly materialize and go into mass production quick enough to make a difference right now. (And if it did, I doubt it would be something you would want.)

To all those complaining that Ford should just drop Webasto, there have been rumors that they have threatened to do just that. So far that hasn't happened, because switching to a new supplier would invariably delay things even more. (Setting up a contract, production lines, training workers, QC, etc. doesn't happen overnight.)

As to the possibility of a second factory, my guess is that possibility was probably floated back when Ford and Webasto first got together and set up the first factory. If the Bronco becomes popular enough, it might warrant a second location to keep up with demand. But I would think that possibility would have been thinking at least 2-3 years after launch. Certainly not any time soon with the existing factory not producing up to par and Webasto's contract hanging by a thread.
Has anyone noticed that there are 2dr soft tops at the Rodeo locations?
 

OCDON

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My guess would be they now know they can not keep up with demand for the different top options out of one plant, no matter how it is staffed and run. Therefore mod painted tops not available until 2023 at the earliest. Need time to open up another plant to handle the mods.
 

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TheWoo

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It's 60 percent of a low production number. That percentage will drop when full production is started. They also probably exhausted their inventory.
60% is their target for all 2021 production. So, if they get to 50,000 MY21 Broncos, they expect 30k of then to be hard tops, and for Webasto to be able to meet that demand.

2. Webasto is still struggling to build 60% of the rest of the projected hard top orders.
3. What percentage of hard tops being built are 2 door vs. 4 door? 60/40 or 40/60? I know Thereā€™s a higher percent of 4 doors being built by the forumā€™s order spreadsheet and graphs. But seeing 2 doors currently only have one top option, would that mean they would be take priority over 4 door tops?
On 2, that's not quite right. Ford is targeting 60% of all production this year to be hard tops, not 60% of hard top orders. If 80% of the orders that would be built in '21 are MICS, that means 1/4 of them would be delayed and replaced by soft top orders/dealer stock when they are out of orders.

There has also been no indication that any priority is being given to 2 door or 4 door tops. They're building both, and I haven't seen anywhere projections for how many of each.

Gotcha, I understand what you're saying. Just clarifying that 2D Wranglers come with a soft top as standard.
There have been ordering restrictions on Jeeps recently preventing 2 doors from being ordered with soft tops. No idea if that is still happening or not and don't know why it exists. Was implied there was some sort of regulation preventing them from doing so, and the speculation here was that maybe that same reg came into play with Ford's decision not to offer a factory soft top on the 2 door.
 

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Shit jeep going pick up Fords fumble and score and there fans going laugh because Ford thought they were going take down the Wrangler with the Bronco ,I guess there is always next year or more like 2025 .
 

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Huh, ordered my 2D Jeep Rubicon soft top middle of May, built in June and it should be at the dealer by end of this week for me to pick up.

I don't think it's a soft top thing, but Jeep's ordering system is switching from 2021 to 2022 model in the last few weeks. 2021 closed and 2022 ordering starts next week.
 

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How long do you think it would take for another company to design the top, test it, and then put together the tooling to make the top and then setup an organization and build a factory and hire the workers to provide the tops to Ford? How much of an investment would be needed do you think?
Iā€™m fairly certain that Ford owns the design for the tops. Webesto may have helped with the design, but Ford contracted the work to them. This is pretty common. Ford may even own the tooling. Normally capitalized. We own most of our molds, not the molding supplier. That being said, switching suppliers isnā€™t that easy when you are that far down that rabbit hole. They really are better off trying to rectify the situation in Plymouth in my opinion for the fastest results.
 

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Not sure if you're kidding, but soft tops are standard on Jeep Wrangler.
The soft top may be standard, but because they HAVE to produce a certain number of hard tops before they can equip with soft tops, thatā€™s why sometimes soft top Jeeps are not available!
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