Where Did the Granger Ford Allocation Update Thread Go?

[CoolerThanCool]

Being a late reservation order holder ( due to me being indecisive) I probably won't get mine until 2024/2025 August 2021 is when I reserved.

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[North7]

@flip Phil, and that's the sad part of this entire fiasco.

Oh......and by the way....."STAY PUMPED" Yeah, I know.....................

 

[mpeugeot]

You can always email [email protected] for your spot. The post should still be up there.

We've received 11, 20, 11 and just received another allocation of 9. So I would assume a 10/month Bronco estimate is probably safe.

So I have a 90 month wait ahead of me??? Seriously... LOL. So I should expect my Bronco in mid-2029? Can you double check for me!?!

 

[sm_cc_03]

So I have a 90 month wait ahead of me??? Seriously... LOL. So I should expect my Bronco in mid-2029? Can you double check for me!?!

At some point, probably 2024 or 2025 depending on supply chain issues, supply will normalize and there will be Broncos on every lot in the country. At that time, I would guess allocations are no longer a constraint and reservations will be filled assuming Ford doesn't just cancel them all. Who knows if price protection will continue that long. Below Invoice on 2025 model year prices could be more than 2022 MSRP given 7%+ inflation.

But there's no reason for me to cancel my Grangetober reservation at this point so I'll just wait it out and see what happens. I'm kind of hoping for a 2024 MY hybrid option. If price protection continues, that could end up being my sweet spot.

 

[Drex]

Allocation has been around forever and is a function of how many vehicles they could produce in any time period. Instead of basing it on specific dealers, it's been a function/calculation by market, region and zone. Retail is prioritized over stock and dealers "earn" more "allocation" by what they sell. If I've got a ton of fleet 150s on my lot and Ford does a snapshot of my inventory, they'll say you have plenty days supply and decreases the number of trucks I can get that round. That's a very general way of how it works and probably the most fair. Bronco comes along and they want to get super specific with who get's what based on orders. Unfortunately, normal ordering didn't happen so the distribution plan went out the window. Actually, it went out the window after reservations surpassed their 60K first year build goal.

I think, no, I know they want to build as many Broncos as possible but are at the mercies of suppliers and production capacity. Everyone understands that but we need to hear it. How long is it going to last? What is the forecast for specific options? Something?

Sure, we get that allocations are how Ford controls the dealers, thing is... The reservation system that 80%+ signed up for was very clear that it was a new way, that it would be built in order and before any stock. That is the key here; Ford touted it up big time that it was not the old way of doing business. That implicitly told us that each reservations carried an allocation where the chronological order of reservations was the relative priority code (aside from minor logistical items or constraints). The timestamp was, by far, the most important factor in production order. It was quite clear; even if it took years to finish, the only way to get a Bronco before they were available on dealer lots was to reserve and you would be serviced essentially FIFO. (or as close as reasonably possible). Ford still kept it that way on the FE's and it worked out just fine.

Nobody is asking or upset that Ford couldn't make all the Bronco's by now. They signed up under a set of rules and Ford changed the rules after the fact. The timestamp is only considered now if the dealer gets allocations (and to my understanding), said allocations do not consider where those reservations are placed. They have no effect on what dealer gets what number of vehicles. Can there be any more clear message from those actions as to the magnitude of disdain they have for the reservation holders?

You are seemingly not connecting with why folks are pissed. Perhaps you are too close to the system to see it. As you said; allocations are to divide up the production capability in a specific time period. With a reservation system, that time period is as long as it takes to fill the reservations, even if several MY's. (the famous 'no dealer stock before all reservations filled', then modified to be all 2021 reservations, which was altered well after Ford took victory laps on the number of reservations they had procured.)

The historical use and calculation of allocations is irrelevant here. It is absolutely incompitable with the original reservation system as set up by Ford and was obviously never intended to be used for the reservation holders, unless your position is that Ford intentionally lied to get more reservations and never intended to follow through. I do not believe you intended to imply that was the case. Saying it has always been because it was needed for the old ways and therefore it is needed now is a circular argument. The FE's carried their own allocation, obviously just as all the Bronco reservations for the other models were intended to do. Ford unilaterally took that away from the Non-FE builds and that is why folks are steamed.

 

[flip]

Sure, we get that allocations are how Ford controls the dealers, thing is... The reservation system that 80%+ signed up for was very clear that it was a new way, that it would be built in order and before any stock. That is the key here; Ford touted it up big time that it was not the old way of doing business. That implicitly told us that each reservations carried an allocation where the chronological order of reservations was the relative priority code (aside from minor logistical items or constraints). The timestamp was, by far, the most important factor in production order. It was quite clear; even if it took years to finish, the only way to get a Bronco before they were available on dealer lots was to reserve and you would be serviced essentially FIFO. (or as close as reasonably possible). Ford still kept it that way on the FE's and it worked out just fine.

Nobody is asking or upset that Ford couldn't make all the Bronco's by now. They signed up under a set of rules and Ford changed the rules after the fact. The timestamp is only considered now if the dealer gets allocations (and to my understanding), said allocations do not consider where those reservations are placed. They have no effect on what dealer gets what number of vehicles. Can there be any more clear message from those actions as to the magnitude of disdain they have for the reservation holders?

You are seemingly not connecting with why folks are pissed. Perhaps you are too close to the system to see it. As you said; allocations are to divide up the production capability in a specific time period. With a reservation system, that time period is as long as it takes to fill the reservations, even if several MY's. (the famous 'no dealer stock before all reservations filled', then modified to be all 2021 reservations, which was altered well after Ford took victory laps on the number of reservations they had procured.)

The historical use and calculation of allocations is irrelevant here. It is absolutely incompitable with the original reservation system as set up by Ford and was obviously never intended to be used for the reservation holders, unless your position is that Ford intentionally lied to get more reservations and never intended to follow through. I do not believe you intended to imply that was the case. Saying it has always been because it was needed for the old ways and therefore it is needed now is a circular argument. The FE's carried their own allocation, obviously just as all the Bronco reservations for the other models were intended to do. Ford unilaterally took that away from the Non-FE builds and that is why folks are steamed.

I get why people are pissed, completely. This whole "new" way of ordering was a theory, IMO but turned into a 3 legged chair problem. I saw this was going to be a problem before launch because if any one part, leg, of this didn't work they way it was designed, the whole thing was going to implode.

The theory, IMO, was can we improve on the Mach E reservation system? Can we verbally commit to first in-first out? Can this be a model for how other vehicle orders are done and bypass or help the dealers sell more Ford vehicles.

Where was plan B, C, D, E? If you say, "we plan to build 60K the first model year", wouldn't you make damn sure components were sourced and available in sufficient quantity? They had 5-6 months to figure out the option mix before 'rona hit.

Instead of coming out early and saying, "we can't execute the plan we laid out because too many critical supply chain/supplier issues have made it impossible. We apologize and are still focused on building as many Broncos as possible and will do our best to build in the order they were received. While we are ultimately responsible for our commitments, we are also at the mercy of our suppliers ability to produce and deliver during this pandemic. Going forward, we will be in weekly contact with the dealer body so they can assist in answering questions you may have about your order."

They double, triple and quadruple downed on the original plan, went silent, released a statements that were vague and non-specific. Sent some swag that felt more like a kick in the gooch than a "I f'd up, and I'm sorry". Give the peasants some bread and they will shut up, behave and love the king.

The emotional and practical roller coaster ride is ongoing and real. I'm going to double down on communication. If they would've been, and still have the opportunity to be, more forthcoming with information, who is built, sitting and why. What the next few months of commodities and what they think can be built, it would go a long way to, not fixing, but restoring some confidence in Ford's ability to deliver.

Yes, I'm close to this and have the Broncos I ordered but I also have 50+ customers that don't. I can't tell them squat because no one I can access at Ford can tell me either. So you can say I've got frustration X 50 and can't do anything about it. For someone that like info and focused on high levels of service and satisfaction, this f'ing sucks.

 

[flip]

In the end, people only like transparency when it's good news. 99% percent of social media is bitching about bad news. Ford finally figured out it should shut up; it wasn't going to win either way.

I don't blame them.

There is no "winning" at this point, I agree. Ford is very, very optics sensitive when it comes to screwups. Not that they need to tattle on themselves every time they make a bad investment or personnel decision. In this situation it would've been better to fall on the sword at the outset and be transparent going forward. People are easier to forgive and move on if they feel they are getting a straight story instead of more radio silence.

 

[RBF 1401]

In the end, people only like transparency when it's good news. 99% percent of social media is bitching about bad news. Ford finally figured out it should shut up; it wasn't going to win either way.

I don't blame them.

I don't think that is entirely true. I work in an "industry" (education) where the "customers" (parents) are way more upset when they are not informed about bad things, than when they are not told good news. I don't think that is much different in any customer dependent industry.

Good things don't usually require action strategies. If the internet is filled with bitching about bad news it's because good news doesn't usually require much thought afterwards. Bad news usually requires someone to rethink, and hence vocalize a lot as plans are going astray.

Saying that you don't blame Ford for shutting up would be like a parent saying they don't blame the counselors or the teachers for not telling them that their kid is failing all their classes, because they know that many parents hearing that will throw a tantrum and blame the school. Or you don't blame the principal for not telling the parents that a rash of racial hate speech has been happening at their child's school, because you know that they will freak out and some will even change schools causing your school to lose money.

Sure, these things open a HUGE flood of angry outrage when they are first communicated, but the backlash is way worse when there wasn't communication.

Ford is no different. If they are not communicating with their dealers (their real customers), then the backlash is way worse than if they are more upfront.

 

[BroncoT]

I get why people are pissed, completely. This whole "new" way of ordering was a theory, IMO but turned into a 3 legged chair problem. I saw this was going to be a problem before launch because if any one part, leg, of this didn't work they way it was designed, the whole thing was going to implode.

The theory, IMO, was can we improve on the Mach E reservation system? Can we verbally commit to first in-first out? Can this be a model for how other vehicle orders are done and bypass or help the dealers sell more Ford vehicles.

Where was plan B, C, D, E? If you say, "we plan to build 60K the first model year", wouldn't you make damn sure components were sourced and available in sufficient quantity? They had 5-6 months to figure out the option mix before 'rona hit.

Instead of coming out early and saying, "we can't execute the plan we laid out because too many critical supply chain/supplier issues have made it impossible. We apologize and are still focused on building as many Broncos as possible and will do our best to build in the order they were received. While we are ultimately responsible for our commitments, we are also at the mercy of our suppliers ability to produce and deliver during this pandemic. Going forward, we will be in weekly contact with the dealer body so they can assist in answering questions you may have about your order."

They double, triple and quadruple downed on the original plan, went silent, released a statements that were vague and non-specific. Sent some swag that felt more like a kick in the gooch than a "I f'd up, and I'm sorry". Give the peasants some bread and they will shut up, behave and love the king.

The emotional and practical roller coaster ride is ongoing and real. I'm going to double down on communication. If they would've been, and still have the opportunity to be, more forthcoming with information, who is built, sitting and why. What the next few months of commodities and what they think can be built, it would go a long way to, not fixing, but restoring some confidence in Ford's ability to deliver.

Yes, I'm close to this and have the Broncos I ordered but I also have 50+ customers that don't. I can't tell them squat because no one I can access at Ford can tell me either. So you can say I've got frustration X 50 and can't do anything about it. For someone that like info and focused on high levels of service and satisfaction, this f'ing sucks.

This isn’t quite true. There are two factors driving Ford to not build reservations in the order they were made.

1. Commodity constraints. Very clear what is happening here. Also clear that Ford has no viable alternative. They’re not going to not build Broncos just to adhere to the order. No company would.

2. Allocation. Sure, some form of allocation was likely. Ford decided, certainly due to dealer pressure, to not only favor big dealers (again, could be expected), but then CHANGE the rules again to further tilt the scales toward big dealers versus reservation holders. It’s this second move that is absolutely infuriating. Ford made a decision they have 100% control over to favor dealers over customers.

That you address #1 while ignoring #2 is what drives us customers bonkers.

 

[North7]

There is no "winning" at this point, I agree. Ford is very, very optics sensitive when it comes to screwups. Not that they need to tattle on themselves every time they make a bad investment or personnel decision. In this situation it would've been better to fall on the sword at the outset and be transparent going forward. People are easier to forgive and move on if they feel they are getting a straight story instead of more radio silence.

Somehow I sense a new incoming spring swag to keep the masses pumped, to Ford, they think that is communication.

Let's guess the next gift, my guess, something that includes a fire extinguisher since that is the only unreported Bronco fiasco, nothing would surprise me.

 

[mpeugeot]

Just thinking about how much Bronco swag I will be getting over the next 90 months.... LOL.

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