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why are we blaming Ford and not the dealers?

phocion

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This is a brand new model. Production issues aside, it looks like they got the Bronco right. The launch is what has been the problem.

Ford had nearly 200k people lined up to order one. Considering that the Bronco is a sweet ride, Ford should have seen all of these buyers as key BRAND AMBASSADORS. They are the most enthusiastic people out there, many of whom reserved the Bronco long before touching or driving one. And now they've waited for well over a year because they are so committed to the Bronco. Ford should be doing everything possible to ensure that, whatever goes wrong, these people don't feel like they are being screwed.

I can mostly give Ford a pass for the production issues. 2020-2021 is very a weird time in manufacturing. What is completely in Ford's control though is how they communicate with customers and how they treat reservation holders. And quite frankly, those have been abysmal. Anyone who thinks Ford has done okay in those areas has very low standards.
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Ford in 2020: Trust the reservation system process, we'll build reservations before dealer stock. We love our reservation holders and you can definitely choose whichever one of our 3000+ dealers you like!

Ford through 2020 and 2021: We love our reservation holders. Hey media, look we have over 150k+ reservations! Here's hammocks and stickers for our valued reservation holders. Hang in there!

Ford last week: Okay yeah reservations were cool but you should have known that we have obligations to our largest dealers and we're enforcing an allocation system. Your reservation is nice but we're giving your exact build to this giant dealer to sell on their lot first because your specific dealership isn't as high value of a dealership to us. You should have known this and you should violently kill yourself for not knowing this. Dealers who can't even come close to matching our name match policy are forgiven and we're relaxing that rule despite other dealers hitting 100% name match. Stay pumped!

You can see why people are upset.
yes, and this is where I blame Ford. They didn't foresee dealers doing what they did. Ford didn't account for a dealer in middle america that normally sells like 10 Ford's a year to have 1500 orders.

but it's only a few dealerships that exploited the loophole.

For the 3000+ other dealerships, they'll fill all their orders. It's just the ones that exploited the loophole that are getting hurt by this. and that's such a tiny percentage when you account for all orders.

I don't know why Ford is cutting them off... but there has to be a reason for it. Mostly likely it's because Ford isn't about to change their ways of doing things bc of a few.
 
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“All reservations will be filled before stock production begins “ - Ford
Right. And 99% (if not more) will be.

Did those dealers check with Ford to make sure they could go forward with their business model? Sticking your head in the sand and hoping something works out isn't an excuse.
 

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I think one of the (many) things I've learned through this process is Ford isn't selling you or me a vehicle. They are selling vehicles to dealers. What Ford allowed people to do was make a reservation, which in practical terms is meaningless. The $100 wasn't even between you and Ford. It was paid to the dealer. Then Ford let dealers convert those reservations into orders, but those orders are between Ford and the dealer. They, Ford, really have nothing to do with you as the customer.

So, what's the difference if the allocation method alienates you the customer. In the end,dealers are going to sell every Bronco they are allocated and they don't lose at all, anything. They have made as many orders as they could, and in the hopes it would increase their allocation. That too has nothing to do with the customer. In the absence of a customer, every dealer would order as many Broncos as they could sell, which is what some dealers have done.

In the end, the customer isn't really a customer at all. They are a sale, and it doesn't matter if it is you or it is the next you in line. Ford and every other dealer is trying in whatever way they can to increase sales. Ford has provided dealers with Broncos based on whatever works for Ford and dealers, because you are not the customer in that scenario, the dealer is, and the dealer will sell every Bronco they can get to whoever is next in line (which has nothing to do with reservation time stamp, nothing to do with who ordered what, and nothing to do with you).

We were all duped into thinking our reservation was some sort of position for us, standing in line, in order, in a queue of sorts. It wasn't. It was a promise, not by Ford to sell you a Bronco, but by you and I, to become a sale at a later date, determined by Ford.
 

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This is a brand new model. Production issues aside, it looks like they got the Bronco right. The launch is what has been the problem.

Ford had nearly 200k people lined up to order one. Considering that the Bronco is a sweet ride, Ford should have seen all of these buyers as key BRAND AMBASSADORS. They are the most enthusiastic people out there, many of whom reserved the Bronco long before touching or driving one. And now they've waited for well over a year because they are so committed to the Bronco. Ford should be doing everything possible to ensure that, whatever goes wrong, these people don't feel like they are being screwed.

I can mostly give Ford a pass for the production issues. 2020-2021 is very a weird time in manufacturing. What is completely in Ford's control though is how they communicate with customers and how they treat reservation holders. And quite frankly, those have been abysmal. Anyone who thinks Ford has done okay in those areas has very low standards.
Kudos to Fords engineers, marketing and development for developing vehicles that consumers want. A big thumbs down to procurement, operations and management for failing to adapt to changing conditions, the rollout and inconsistent policies which have spurned consumers.
 
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yes, and this is where I blame Ford. They didn't foresee dealers doing what they did. Ford didn't account for a dealer in middle america that normally sells like 10 Ford's a year to have 1500 orders.

but it's only a few dealerships that exploited the loophole.

For the 3000+ other dealerships, they'll fill all their orders. It's just the ones that exploited the loophole that are getting hurt by this. and that's such a tiny percentage when you account for all orders.

I don't know why Ford is cutting them off... but there has to be a reason for it. Mostly likely it's because Ford isn't about to change their ways of doing things bc of a few.
There you go again thinking it's just one dealership...

Please point to your "insider" data that shows small dealers will not have their MY21 allocations reduced (tiny percentage) for MY22 based on the new formula. Math suggests otherwise.
 

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It is really simple. Ford took reservations online allowing customers to choose the dealer they wanted to purchase from. Ford created the system. Ford utilized the system. And Ford should follow through with existing reservation holders. Period. Full stop.

Ford can draw a line in the sand and have a PR coup right now letting everyone know they will back all their “loyal” reservation holders (customers) and follow through with prior commitments and arrangements. Once those are done, they can go back to the old allocation method.

I’ve worked in corporate automotive world my whole life. Ford genuinely screwed the pooch on this whole thing.

Start an online petition. Let Jalopnik and every other publication out there know. Write emails to corporate. They need to know that potential loyal customers are ready to walk. A manufacturer rarely gets the opportunity for conquest sales like this with zero marketing around a halo heritage product.

Amazing decision making at Ford right now.
 
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They simply created a program based on what Ford said.

Why blame Ford? They've gone back on their word. Pretty simple.
you probably should've kept reading my post then...

Did they? Did those dealers call Ford or their Ford rep and run their model by them? Maybe then Ford would've said no, that's not going to work for us.

yes, Ford said something and didn't account for loophole seeking dealerships. That's on them. But shouldn't the dealerships have done their due diligence before making promises they can't keep?

I'll say again, I don't know why Ford is cutting them off, but this shouldn't have been a surprise to these dealers. Allocations aren't new. They should've raised concerns, but they chose to hide under some coats and hope it all works out. And then when it doesn't, blame Ford. They are the easy target right now.
 

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“All reservations will be filled before stock production begins “ - Ford
I see people say this a lot in reference to the new allocation formula, but Ford sent everyone an email June 25th reneging on this. So this isn't something new.

Ford Bronco why are we blaming Ford and not the dealers? Screenshot_20211011-131719_Outlook
 

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My view:

a) anyone upset over this who was on the 2021 allocation bubble at any of the three discount dealers knowingly took a risk
To explain, at time of order we knew 2021 allocation, and 2021 was all customer orders. We did not know how 2022 was going to happen and how dealer stock would get wrapped into it. Anyone on or outside the bubble was at significant risk for this exact situation.​

b) Ford compounded this train wreck by eliminating x-plan for Broncos - that drove silly volumes at the three dealers.

c) While I respect the truthfulness we’ve received from the three dealers, they themselves also partially created this train wreck by driving continued volume outside of what was possible in 2021 after the 2021 allotment system was announced creating significant constraints and risks last fall.
 
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Vigor

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I think one of the (many) things I've learned through this process is Ford isn't selling you or me a vehicle. They are selling vehicles to dealers. What Ford allowed people to do was make a reservation, which in practical terms is meaningless. The $100 wasn't even between you and Ford. It was paid to the dealer. Then Ford let dealers convert those reservations into orders, but those orders are between Ford and the dealer. They, Ford, really have nothing to do with you as the customer.

So, what's the difference if the allocation method alienates you the customer. In the end,dealers are going to sell every Bronco they are allocated and they don't lose at all, anything. They have made as many orders as they could, and in the hopes it would increase their allocation. That too has nothing to do with the customer. In the absence of a customer, every dealer would order as many Broncos as they could sell, which is what some dealers have done.

In the end, the customer isn't really a customer at all. They are a sale, and it doesn't matter if it is you or it is the next you in line. Ford and every other dealer is trying in whatever way they can to increase sales. Ford has provided dealers with Broncos based on whatever works for Ford and dealers, because you are not the customer in that scenario, the dealer is, and the dealer will sell every Bronco they can get to whoever is next in line (which has nothing to do with reservation time stamp, nothing to do with who ordered what, and nothing to do with you).

We were all duped into thinking our reservation was some sort of position for us, standing in line, in order, in a queue of sorts. It wasn't. It was a promise, not by Ford to sell you a Bronco, but by you and I, to become a sale at a later date, determined by Ford.
Ford Bronco why are we blaming Ford and not the dealers? tenor (1) (9)
 

Rahkmalla

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Did they? Did those dealers call Ford or their Ford rep and run their model by them? Maybe then Ford would've said no, that's not going to work for us.

yes, Ford said something and didn't account for loophole seeking dealerships. That's on them. But shouldn't the dealerships have done their due diligence before making promises they can't keep?
It wasn't a loophole. It was a written plan and an allocation formula to back it up. At the end of the day we're talking about 1100 orders from @Zach@Granger and 400 orders from @DealerInsider and no idea how many from @StephensAutoCenter. Let's guess another 1000. So take away the orders likely to be fulfilled next year and you've got 2k broncos left. Ford is really willing to screw 2000 people in order to make 25 dealers happy? 2023 going forward this is a non-issue if they fulfil their original promises, or at least their intentions behind those promises (i understand dealer stock softies are going to get built before ordered hardtops, but anything short of that is horshit)

Following a plan precisely as it is written isn't a loophole. It's full compliance.
 

phocion

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I see people say this a lot in reference to the new allocation formula, but Ford sent everyone an email June 25th reneging on this. So this isn't something new.
True, but there's still some jujitsu here. "We can't solely produce customer orders because of lack of hardtops" in June vs. "We can't solely produce customer orders because of a new formula we invented to keep our big dealers happy" in 2022.
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