Defending Ford's Production Shortages

[Ford Truck Guy]

...I would be wondering if I was going to need to shop elsewhere.

And exactly where else would you be shopping for a $25k-$30k hybrid small pickup?

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[fossil]

Buried in this thread is a statement that “Ford advertised the heck out of the Hybrid to avoid a flop”.
2+ years later, I’m still waiting to see the 1st Maverick ad in any format.

I hear ya, and I too have not seen Maverick ads in the conventional sense, on TV. But then again I don't have conventional broadcast TV. The bulk of these phantom ads were pushed on social media, facebook, tiktok, utube aimed at the demographic Ford was thinking (wrongly imo) would be most likely to buy this truck. Yet somehow people found out about this truck and joined the MTC, Reddit, and what ever, it is the 21st century.
I've been in the auto industry since 1977 and being a long time car junky I follow car reviews/news and so was well informed. I guess you have to ask yourself how you heard about it, was it from MTC or before you joined (I joined in 2020), or the water cooler? Every time Ford does a interview/walk around/give one to a journalist it's advertising just not in your conventional sense. Ford did get the word out and lots of people did somehow find out and it sold out quicker than expected for 2022 shocking the media and Ford, then much quicker in 2023. Didn't happen in a vacuum.

2022 Ford Maverick TikTok Campaign Has Been Wildly Successful

https://fordauthority.com/2022/01/2022-ford-maverick-tiktok-campaign-has-been-wildly-successful/

There are plenty of things happening every day that I don't catch but I don't automatically assume it didn't happen simply because of my tunnel vision didn't see it.
And no, I'm not on tictok, FB, twitter, reddit or any of that crap but will admit to utube.

 

[Old Ford Guy]

I'm pretty sure that four years ago, when Ford was planning for the Maverick intro, and planning for production, they (and probably every other rational manufacturer) gave out contracts for specific numbers of components as a "minimum" with plans to add additional orders if/when needed. With just-in-time manufacturing, those orders were spread out over the model year.

Then two things happened simultaneously:

1. The Maverick became a huge hit, with much higher demand than Ford's conservative estimates
2. The Covid pandemic disrupted supply chains and transportation across the globe.

Just one specific instance of #2 sheds a lot of light: When China basically shut down (along with Taiwan), the production of microchips simply halted. Vehicle sales came to a screeching halt, so manufacturers (Ford included) cancelled a bunch or orders. But strangely enough, Smart Phone, Tablet, and Computer sales skyrocketed as people began working more from home, and Zoom-work and Zoom-school became a "thing." So the folks like Apple who made those products actually increased their orders. When factories began coming back online, they had HUGE backlogs of orders from Apple, Samsung, HP, etc. to be fulfilled. For almost six months, 100% of the high-density fabrication plants were taken up with fulfilling those orders. Ford tried to reactivate their orders, but found they were competing with every single other vendor of pretty much anything with a computer chip in it. And since Smart Phones, Tablets, and Computers have MUCH higher markups (therefore - profitability) than autos, Ford's "lowball" contracts carried little weight with those electronics fabs... Ford had to wait in line, raise their offers, and wait in line some more. And that's just the story of "chips" as a small percentage of the suppliers that Ford had to deal with during and after the pandemic...

So now you've got the "perfect storm" for Ford: An unexpected hit with the hugely popular Maverick, being build in a plant alongside another surprise "hit" vehicle, with suppliers that have limited production capacity that are struggling to meet even the original (conservative) order levels Ford expected, and a transportation system that is flat-out broken trying to make "just-in-time" deliveries to keep the production lines going.

I'm not trying to apologize for Ford. They ABSOLUTELY did a HORRIBLE job in communicating with their customer base and in handling the ordering process in general. It is unforgivable to me that they could not properly "roll over" orders themselves from 2022 to 2023. It is unbelievable that they cannot do a better job of delivering on the promise they made in 2022 that orders would be handled in a FIFO (first in, first out) manner, instead of by "dealer allocations"... It's a complete failure on Ford's part that they allowed such massive customer dissatisfaction to occur, when it was at least 98% in their power to COMMUNICATE better with their customers, and provide some transparency. Don't tell me to find a dealership that has "allocations" without providing a way to obtain that information. A dealer who doesn't have them isn't going to admit it, and few of them have found it in their best interests to offer up that information.

Ironically, despite all this ridiculousness, the Maverick itself remains a desirable vehicle - to the point that TONS of us are STILL waiting in line to get ours... I just feel incredibly sorry for those who've been waiting for nearly two years for their ordered Mavericks...

You are SOOOO on point with your analysis! the thing about your post that hits the point for me was the phrase "perfect Storm", that perfectly describes what happened to most auto manufacturers including Ford. making the problem even worse was their abject failure to anticipate Hybrid demand for this truck, and then the worldwide covid shutdown hit right as they were trying to ramp up production and launch this new vehicle. historically Ford or nobody else for that matter had any idea the Hybrid power train would have the demand it has. think about it, Ford's been selling Hybrids for quite some time now and lets be honest they just didnt sell in volume. but ICE 4x4 AWD trucks fly off the lots in comparison so which mix % would you have prepared your procurement and production chain for? they got lucky with this truck and caught lighting in a bottle and now they're running around like their hair is on fire(if they arnt they should be) trying to catch up with demand and to make certain the next gen Mav stays ahead of the coming onslaught of competition thats ahead. also dont hold your breath for Ford creating or converting capacity by adding additional production lines anytime soon, the pattern for this kind of problem(needing more production) is usually to add more shifts, run the crap out of the existing line(s) 24/7 and just make as many as you can. a new plant from scratch will easily set you back a Billion $$$ minimum and take 2yrs or so B-4 the 1st truck rolls of the line if you get lucky and everything goes just right, which we all know almost never happens . after the great recession of 2008 Ford & most other US mnftrs closed plants and trimmed manpower and production capacity. if youre Ford its tough to see where you could establish a new Mav assembly line in N.A. without cannibelising existing product capacity. plus you need to understand per unit sold profit margins. labor costs are somewhat fixed. Ford pays its people in the USA the same to make a $95K King ranch F150 as they do to make a $30K transit connect, which one do you think they they realise the most profit from and want more of? this is the reason that the only 'car' Ford sells is the Mustang. Trucks my friends are what they do best and trucks are where their bread is buttered. the marketing folks probally made the argument that we need a under $25k entry level vehicle so we ca bring all the GenX & milleneals into the Ford family? so between existing platforms and common parts they came up with the Mav and resurrected a forgotten market segment to everyones suprise i may add. these are difficult decisions folks and very hard to get right on a consistent basis(see Ford Edsel for instance). they've almost doubled capacity already, once the supply chain constraints are sorted out things will get better in may 2023 they produced some 11k trucks with some 8k deleivered,so there are reasons for opptimisom but you'll never see Mav's pilled up on dealer lots around America unless it becomes a hit that proves to have staying power over the long haul. i believe theres not another manufactuer in America that wouldnt LOVE to have a vehicle this coveted by consumers, just look at how many new small trucks have either been announced or are on the drawing board. Ford got a head start but the next job is to hang on to that lead going forward.

 

[adsandiego]

there's enough words in this thread to publish a book on conspiracy theories.

 

[Llamaryudo]

So according to the comments here, Ford had no idea a truck starting at $19,995 was going to be popular? With a 40 mpg hybrid powertrain? While having the bestselling truck in America for longer than I've been alive?

And they had no idea how many units Hermosillo could produce?

Hmm.

The Maverick was my first new vehicle and first Ford. The lack of communication to customers AND dealers was nothing short of appalling. And I only waited 6 months.

Which dealer in WA did you order your Mav? I went with Kendall Ford up in Marysville and been waiting since September. TIA

 

[bgn]

Which dealer in WA did you order your Mav? I went with Kendall Ford up in Marysville and been waiting since September. TIA

Bowen Scarff in Kent. I picked it up a long time ago, though...December 2021.

 

[aitch-2-oh]

I stand corrected, Ford must have 'advertised' the Maverick in some manner, be it Industry Mouthpieces, Roll Out Promos or post-Production Evaluations. I rescind my blanket comment about not seeing 'any' Maverick Advertisements.

But...I still have yet to see a Maverick in a TV Ad (cable, over the air, streaming, et al), certainly as a stand-alone product, but it's also not included in broadcast Ads advertising Ford rolling stock: F's of all sizes, Escapes, Broncos, Bronco Sports, Transits, etc. There's a Billboard I drive by daily, showing the current Ford Fleet, sans Maverick. Maybe the Maverick is Ford's 'Red Headed Step Child'...

I caught wind of the Maverick in June of '21, from a friend (who can't remember how he caught wind) who told me "Ford's building a small truck named Maverick, not the POS (his words) you remember, and you can build the Maverick to your needs on the Ford website...and there's a Hybrid version". The hook was set, I started the process and somewhere in the process I found MTC.

Yes, I thought I could 'Build My Maverick' and bypass the Dealers (wrong!), but the process was informative and made me an informed potential customer when I visited my 1st (and only, as it turned out) Dealer. No haggling, no hiddens, no Ad Ons, numbers on the Ford Site matched the numbers on the order. Clean and simple.

The post-Grad education into Allocations, Recalls, ROVP vs COVP and Dealer Shenanigans came later...along with defending the Order multiple times to remain "As is" and not removing key items (we all know what they were...and perhaps remain an issue) on the hope/prayer that the order would be eventually delivered.

As a result, I'm driving a Unicorn that's approaching 10k trouble free miles (except for the irritating felt of the tonneau cover falling off). 1st world problem that I think I fixed with judicious use of contact cement...

 

[Bob The Builder]

Ford has had it in their heads since 2011 or earlier maybe that very few want a compact truck. Hence, they discontinue the Ranger and 8 years later they bring the namesake back as a mid size. Still believing very few want a compact truck. I guarantee it they were still thinking this to a degree when they decided to make the Maverick. First and foremost on their minds was we will sell a few of them and the hybrids will help our cafe standard bottom line and keep Uncle Sugar off our butts.

They gat a tremendous wake up call that their overpaid brainiacs in the boardrooms were all wet. So now here we are. Surprise, surprise Ford. Here we are.

 

[Scupking]

Every manufacturer has had production issues since 2020. Same with reliability. Vehicles that have been built after 2019 have not been as reliable across manufactures.

 

[fossil]

when a certain EV maker skips TV and advertises on social media, genius.
when Ford skips TV and advertises on social media, beat down time.

 

[Old Man]

It is unforgivable to me that they could not properly "roll over" orders themselves from 2022 to 2023. It is unbelievable that they cannot do a better job of delivering on the promise they made in 2022 that orders would be handled in a FIFO (first in, first out) manner, instead of by "dealer allocations"... It's a complete failure on Ford's part that they allowed such massive customer dissatisfaction to occur, when it was at least 98% in their power to COMMUNICATE better with their customers, and provide some transparency.

Rollover which orders? All of them? The ones that people had moved on from and not told the dealer, the ones the dealers didn't cancel so they could have them, the ones they may miss rolling and anger customers? The way they did it was the best way to get REAL orders for the new year. And I wasn't happy they gave the private offers, just cost the rest of us more money.
And as stated earlier, there are a lot of people that think they know all the factors at a huge company that drives their decisions and that they could do it better. Yeah, that sounds right.
And estimating the demand for a compact truck wasn't easy - because people stopped buying them when ther were made, they wanted the bigger trucks.
And I wouldn't buy a hybrid - too many complications for limited returns.
I don't remember FIFO in 22 - do they just stop the assembly line if the parts for the next car ordered won't be available for a month or do they schedule based on all factors being positive for particular builds at a particular time.
If you can't play the game with the rules at the time then don't play. Go to another manufacturer and find out they aren't perfect either.

 

[K5Blazer]

Try getting ANYTHING that is in high demand right now.
The Maverick is just harder because it’s the only game in town.

Lots of 50-70k trucks for sale right now, with 20-40k markups but hey, you can buy one RIGHT NOW! Nobody wants or can afford them.

Amuricans , (sic), refuse to accept the possibility that things are never going back to “normal”.

Even older Tesla owners are waking up to the fact that their earth savers, which cost upwards of 80k, now have enough miles, 70-80k, that they need a new battery which costs upwards of 40 thousand dollars. Whoops, things aren’t looking so rosy anymore.

An EV Mav? Be careful what you wish for.
Won’t happen anyway, they can’t produce the hybrids in demand right now and likely never will.

 

[JimParker256]

Depends on whose definition of the word "advertise" you use. For reference, here's M-W's:

Your answer seems to imply that my answer was incorrect. I stated that I, personally, have NEVER seen the Maverick in ANY form of advertising. It really doesn't change my answer if Ford MAY have been advertised in places where I didn't see the ads. I was simply stating that I didn't see (and still haven't seen) ANY Maverick advertising. Clearly, an excellent strategy on their part.

 

[BuddyS]

This is the first compact pickup in a decade in NA. They're fools if they didn't anticipate demand.

I think that's a factor -- but since there hasn't been a small truck, they didn't really know if there was a market for it. Even reading the tea leaves is a fool's errand. For example, Tacoma, Ranger and Colorado guys begged, pleaded, clamored and swore up and down that if someone made a mid-size diesel they'd be all over it. So then Chevy/GMC finally puts one out there and... crickets. Didn't last 2 years on the market. Same with small cars... everyone says they want a basic, efficient, low-priced car, but then when one shows up on the market everyone says "it's too cheap/what, no heated mirrors?/meh, for $5K more I'll buy a Hyundai or whatever. So you can see why the Maverick was a bit of a roll of the dice. Ford couldn't know until they put it out there.

 

[WNYEscapee]

I say that some lessons should have been learned from the first years offering of the Maverick and Bronco.
Supply issues hadn't changed enough to gamble on the same failures again, but it appeared to be what happened.

All that said, they have an idea what dealerships may be getting allocated, and the dealers should have that information available prior to order banks opening. The dealerships could then determine what they need to do to get their orders handled. If receiving too many potential customers, they can direct them elsewhere where they may get allocated and built.
At least for now, in the format many manufacturers practice, we can still place actual customer orders for the vehicles we really want; not the ones the factory is building and planning on shipping out to the next willing buyer. It may be an exercise in developing patience, but we might still get the vehicle we actually wanted.

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