The Reason WHY You're not getting your orders...

[MX5Racer]

That all sounds like 1990's mentality. Why wouldn't a manufacturer want to build any order it can sell? Just because the dealer who placed the order is a shit bag, or a newer dealer, or a remote dealer? They think they are rewarding the A-list dealers? So as a consumer, its up to me to figure out who the A-listers are? They need to get into the 21st century and follow the Tesla model (I'm taking cover now!) and just build the damn cars that get ordered! Chapman has been stringing me along long enough. It is now too late in the season to capitalize on selling my convertible for top dollar to pay for my new one. End of rant.

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[Lgb0250]

……..Chapman has been stringing me along long enough. It is now too late in the season to capitalize on selling my convertible for top dollar to pay for my new one. End of rant.

I‘m thinking they are going to see a lot of cancellations in the next few weeks as the used vehicle market continues to get softer and softer and we are still left dangling. Luckily I don’t need a new vehicle. I want it but, I don’t really need it and I’m not going to take it in the shorts on selling my car in a soft market to basically buy a new car that will be one model year old by the time we see them!

 

[MX5Racer]

I‘m thinking they are going to see a lot of cancellations in the next few weeks as the used vehicle market continues to get softer and softer and we are still left dangling.

I'm not going to cancel, but I'm not going to buy it either. I have nothing to lose, I just want to see if they are actually ever going to build it. When they get it, I'll tell them to pound salt. Same as you, I have a Mustang and don't really need a new one thats a year old.

 

[shogun32]

They need to get into the 21st century and follow the Tesla model (I'm taking cover now!) and just build the damn cars that get ordered!

after the first half of July the floodgates appear to have opened. We don't know if it was idiot programming, or deliberate policy, or undisclosed labor/material shortages that was hamstringing orders for 4, 5, 6 months with no action.

 

[Ole Texan]

What a convoluted mess. I know times are very different today, but in the last week of February 1965, I ordered a twilight turquoise Mustang Fastback 4 speed 225 horse. Options were front disc breaks, radio, heater, fold down rear seat, and 3.8 gear. Filled out a single order page, agreed to final cost (dealer and I both signed). $50 deposit. Dealer signed a shipment form stating car would be on his lot during the third week of March. I picked up the car on Wednesday the third week of March.
Ford sold almost 600,000 mustangs in 1965.

Ford sold about 61,000 2021 mustangs and buyers that ordered 2021 mustangs had little or no idea when cars would be delivered. This all in a time of almost every step in the process being computerized. MY 2022 has been much worse. Add in same year price increases and watch units sold drop even more. Yes covid and EPA changes have complicated the situation, but I think Top management was asleep at the wheel.

 

[shifti550]

I'm not going to cancel, but I'm not going to buy it either. I have nothing to lose, I just want to see if they are actually ever going to build it.

I actually like this idea. I should do the same and wait if they sue me

 

[MidwayJ]

Hands down the best and clearest explanation I have seen.

Now... We are paying our dealers a lot of money to facilitate the sale of a vehicle, why do we have to go to a random enthusiast website to get simple process information? This is not IP or secret sauce, just the basic rules for a transaction for tens of thousands of dollars. Shows you just how piss-poor the average dealer treats it's customers. I am not asking them to bend over backwards, just tell us the rules of the game that we are paying to play.

I would guess dealers with low allocations don't want the word to get around not to order from them. But at some point when they know a particular customer's car has no chance of getting scheduled in a reasonable time frame, they need to come clean.

 

[MidwayJ]

That all sounds like 1990's mentality. Why wouldn't a manufacturer want to build any order it can sell? Just because the dealer who placed the order is a shit bag, or a newer dealer, or a remote dealer? They think they are rewarding the A-list dealers? So as a consumer, its up to me to figure out who the A-listers are? They need to get into the 21st century and follow the Tesla model (I'm taking cover now!) and just build the damn cars that get ordered! Chapman has been stringing me along long enough. It is now too late in the season to capitalize on selling my convertible for top dollar to pay for my new one. End of rant.

I don't think Ford thought it through too well when transitioning from inventory sales to primarily build to order. When deciding how much inventory dealers get for their lots it makes sense to base it on past sales, but a customer order is a likely sale no matter where it's placed.

The situation has been even worse for new, high demand models like the Bronco and Maverick. I just went through an 11 month wait to get a '22 Maverick hybrid. Supply issues have played a big role, but lack of allocations vs. orders for certain dealers has resulted in even longer waits, and some are having to reorder a MY23.

 

[Fyoutoo]

I would guess dealers with low allocations don't want the word to get around not to order from them. But at some point when they know a particular customer's car has no chance of getting scheduled in a reasonable time frame, they need to come clean.

It's Ford's process... Why does it not exist on the interwebs in any kind of official fashion?? Again, not asking for secret sauce or any special perks or favors, I would just like to know the rules of the game we are playing especially when tens of thousands of dollars are on the table. Is the quoted process 100% accurate? Is it outdated? Is it the same for international people? Who knows? All we have is a well written and seemingly logical post from an internet rando (no offence, but I literally don't know that guy from Adam)

 

[MidwayJ]

It's Ford's process... Why does it not exist on the interwebs in any kind of official fashion?? Again, not asking for secret sauce or any special perks or favors, I would just like to know the rules of the game we are playing especially when tens of thousands of dollars are on the table. Is the quoted process 100% accurate? Is it outdated? Is it the same for international people? Who knows? All we have is a well written and seemingly logical post from an internet rando (no offence, but I literally don't know that guy from Adam)

I'm sure there are multitudes of internal processes of many companies that are not public information. However, given Ford is a publicly traded company and therefore required to file SEC reports, it's possible there is mention of the process in it's 10K. I think it's clearly an outdated process for the build to order model as I mentioned in my other post. Historically it's been used for dealer stock inventory.

 

[SloWay2go]

Old Texan is right. It’s sheer profit above all else business as usual.

No supply issues for two top of line platinum and ST explorers ordered on the same day no less. Both received production dates within “normal” timeframes of 3-4 weeks and one shipped last week and the other should ship next week. Out of the 150 vehicles ordered on the same day as the mustang only a handful of trucks have plant constraints still.

Smells more like all the vendors I work with in construction using the Covid and supply issue excuse, which is getting old and less realistic. It’s morphed from actually being the cause to more about sheer laziness and price gouging. Ford is simply more focused on selling higher volume vehicles, which probably makes far more per unit due to the production rates. It’s a business, all they care about is making money. It’s all going to come crashing down on their heads at some point, especially when the general population finally figures out electric cars are no more environmentally friendly than you’re run of the mill 4 cylinder and they switched most of their production over.

 

[luca1290]

[...] when the general population finally figures out electric cars are no more environmentally friendly than you’re run of the mill 4 cylinder and they switched most of their production over.

Agreed, but I guess it will come crashing down when the general population realizes the huge pain and discomfort in real life a BEV (outside a heavy populated metropolitan area) is. Statistically speaking about 1 in 4 of the people who buy an electric car sell it and switch back to petrol.
Electric car todays are selling because there are huge incentives (paid by debt) and because companies and people like to "virtue signaling" (paid by another hell of a lot of debt).

I don't particularly like inflation but in some way this will force central banks to put higher interest rates and will force government and people to end the open-eye "dreams" the west is living in (don't know in the US but here in EU it's like free cash for everyone, everywhere at any time).

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