Mind boggling. No scheduling the last few weeks. Rumor of slim to none March allocation. Plant closed completely next week. On and on.

 

I'll try to field this one even though I have no affiliation with Ford.

They have a fancy computer program that can help them plan what they can build based on current and projected availability of parts. Once the computer says no more then they will quit taking orders. You have to remember as they get closer to MY switchover it will probably take longer to get your truck or possibly get flipped to a MY23. There are some people waiting now that are approaching a year since order and many more in the 5-10 month window. They build as they can.

bob

 

IMHO……. Because not taking orders is the equivalent of a ‘closed” sign on your business front door. WAY better to take orders you know you can not fill in a timely fashion, than to essentially force customers to your competition. They would rather have the bad PR (which they certainly do) of the constant pushing out of build dates, than to never had had the chance to sell that truck. The psychology of at least giving customers a build date (that changes five times) is enough for most customers to wait it out. The customer always has “hope” that the next build date/week is going to be the real deal….. Ford is banking on it. Quite literally.

 

They slowly take them and the price inflates.

Its normal business put yourself in their position.

 

the fact that they are still taking F450 orders when there are people waiting a year or more for their well equipped order while others who order after the first orders already got theirs already tells me the forecast system is not working correctly or outright broken and overridden without any FIFO or by margin or other logic.

 

this makes more sense than “they have a process”

shifting the burden of wait times to customer AND being able to brag about how many retail orders are on the books makes it a win-win for Ford.

 

sad really

 

I like how Ford sent out $3000 “Exclusive Cash Offers” on Super Duties that aren’t available.

 

It’s better for them to take the order for a 22 and then try to get customers to convert to a 23, than to say you can’t order a 22, or a 23. If they don’t take the order at all, people will go to GM or Ram and place an order.

 

…who are having the same issues and will do the same thing.

 

If Ford can't build MY22's, does anybody - including Ford - think they can build MY23's?

 

If you have information that Ram & GM are getting parts and cranking out orders you know more than the rest of us. I checked in on a Ram forum this morning and saw the same complaints I see here about waiting months on end, no dealer communication, shipped trucks sitting in rail yards for weeks, etc.
People may go to the other guys and place an order. But I think they'll be in for more of the same that Ford customers are seeing.

 

They have Rams sitting on the lots here in Carlsbad CA……asking about 6K over MSRP. If you order one, its 6.5K off the MSRP. Weird how that works. Not sure how they are not short on supplies but Ford seems shorter as we have a F450 on order for months and a Bronco for over a year. I might put in an order for a Ram 3500 limited dually and see if it comes in before my F450.

 

This is strictly dealer greed and you will never convince me otherwise.

I keep hearing nonsense like "nothing on the lot to sell, so we can't make the same money" which is simply not true. Dealers are still putting in these build orders at cost or hold-back, charging people MSRP or a little bit under, and a ton of new build orders are being placed at all makes because that's the new avenue to sell. Even a dealer like Granger, who is doing builds at 2% under invoice is making money on these builds for sure and at high volume; it just so happens that they were ahead of the curve and are actually providing a good deal in a sellers market. The dealers WANT the lots to stay empty, so they will mark-up new and used inventory on the lot to incentivize people to either pay the premium or add to their growing volume orders. The game has changed and salesman are still working in the best interest of their dealerships and their bottom line.

When in history has dealers had their allocation queues loaded up and backlogged, churning easy new builds for months and months and months? It's an automated sales pipeline today; the vehicles sell themselves and all dealers have to do is sit back and watch the cash pour in. People who want instant gratification pay the premium, all others, get in line for the unlimited money glitch!

 

I'm hopeful that things will improve 2nd half of '22+

Covid shutdowns seem to be over for the most part so vendors should be able to supply parts more consistently. Semiconductor supply will also slowly improve as we move forward...