How fair is it, really, to be upset at Ford?

[jb56]

I'm pissed at Ford. But is it fair? Do I just need to be patient and happy? First, I want to lay out the excuses for Ford.

Global pandemic, duh!
Supply chain problems
Demand was way more than they expected
There are too many unknowns for Ford to be much more transparent without causing more problems
This is a first generation, and there are always hiccups
Pretty much all car companies are struggling to deliver vehicles and communicate clearly about it.

Here are some things I think Ford screwed up.

Not being clear about when reservations would go live.
Only requiring a $100 dollar deposit even after the Bronco s#!+ show.
Doing reservations as a whole and not segmenting into trim levels at all (I know this can go both ways, but I think it blew up in their face)
Providing no early feedback on how many reservations would be fulfilled into orders in the first year
Allowing rampant reporting of 15,000 Lightnings being manufactured for MY 2022
Not explaining what percentage of the MY 2022 orders would go to reservation holders
Not being clear early on that some states would get preferences (ZEV)
Not being clear early on that some dealers would get a tiny allocation, despite a huge number of reservations
Playing games with dealer prioritizations without any clarity (especially when some dealers got 25 prioritizations but were only allocated 4 or 5 trucks)
Not addressing added dealer markup from the beginning. (Allowing ADM provides incentives for dealers to screw around)
Providing vague communications that suggest reservation holders will be getting a lightning in the near future.
XLT ER pricing being a joke
Platinum pricing making very little sense (to me, at least)

(Just FYI, my reservation email came 18 minutes after the presentation started. Somehow I was 14/700+ reservations at my dealer. I will not be getting a 2022)

To me, my top list of excuses doesn't really excuse anything in my bottom list. Had Ford told me a month after I reserved that I was likely in line for a 2023, I wouldn't be bugged at them at all.

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[DadBald]

Totally fair. Lots of false advertising - or misleading at best.

 

[Maquis]

It’s fair, but not worth inducing an ulcer or heart attack over!

 

[vandy1981]

I think most of the criticism is unwarranted, but may have a skewed opinion since I'm sitting on a Lariat ER order.

If I had to remove one thing from the Lightning roll out, it would be the dealer prioritization option--they got about 2 weeks of bad press when dealers started auctioning off priority slots.

I don't think it's fair to accuse them of a bait-and-switch because they never promised pricing structure for anything besides the Pro SR and never announced production numbers for any of the trims. I guess the alternative would have been to only offer a high-margin, high-volume model like the Lariat ER for MY22, but people would have complained about that as well.

Other things like ADM are out of their control, but they made it pretty damn easy to switch reservations and order invites from a shady dealer to a non-ADM dealer.

If production schedules hold up in spite of World War Z, they will be the first manufacturer to produce an electric pickup truck at scale, which is pretty amazing considering the supply chain issues and labor shortages that are currently afflicting the world.

 

[jb56]

I think most of the criticism is unwarranted, but may have a skewed opinion since I'm sitting on a Lariat ER order.

If I had to remove one thing from the Lightning roll out, it would be the dealer prioritization option--they got about 2 weeks of bad press when dealers started auctioning off priority slots.

I don't think it's fair to accuse them of a bait-and-switch because they never promised pricing structure for anything besides the Pro SR and never announced production numbers for any of the trims. I guess the alternative would have been to only offer a high-margin, high-volume model like the Lariat ER for MY22, but people would have complained about that as well.

Other things like ADM are out of their control, but they made it pretty damn easy to switch reservations and order invites from a shady dealer to a non-ADM dealer.

If production schedules hold up in spite of World War Z, they will be the first manufacturer to produce an electric pickup truck at scale, which is pretty amazing considering the supply chain issues and labor shortages that are currently afflicting the world.

I’m not saying it is a bait-and-switch on pricing. I’m saying the pricing for the Lariat ER is stupid.

And I don’t think you can really give Ford that much credit foot producing an electric pickup truck at “scale.” They produce a massive amount of vehicles every year, and it looks like they are only going to put out about 5,000-10,000 retail electric trucks. They sold more than 700,000 F series trucks in 2021. So adding 5-10k electric trucks is not some groundbreaking achievement. It just shows they were willing to gamble with investment a little earlier, and they waited to invest a lot of that until after they had 200,000 reservations.

 

[JSJ]

I understand the supply issues and developing a new vehicle especially an EV is beyond difficult. I’m a little disappointed in how Ford handled the dealers ADM as well as forcing people into higher trims and packages but in the end it is a business. I switched to a dealer that promised me a 22 lightning but I never got the call. I just bought a new EV to hold me over and I’m hoping I can get a Pro next year, or an XLT ER without all the extra forces options, I can patiently wait.

 

[gorwell]

I believe there are two points that are fair to be upset about:

(1) Pro availability .
(2) Priority Slots


(1) Ford advertised the $40K price and every single news outlet advertised the $40K starting price. But, Ford did not want to sell a $40K EV, so it limited the availability beyond what most would have expected. I would 100% not expect the Pro to start at $40K for MY23 or not even be offered to consumers. If they retain that $40K, probably trimming out the bed and seats to achieve that price

(2) Priority Slots were unnecessary and as close to "evil" as possible. Every dealer was given an option to prioritize their entire allotment (and beyond), pretty much ignoring all reservation timestamps. Given the limited quantity and allotments, there should have been zero priority slots.

All other complaints are just people thinking they were warranted a truck because they placed a non-binding reservation.

 

[jb56]

All other complaints are just people thinking they were warranted a truck because they placed a non-binding reservation.

Not just because I placed a non-binding reservation. But because I reserved a truck within the first 20 minutes. And because I was in the top 2% of reservations at my dealership. (Ford would only have to produce 4,000 trucks to satisfy 2% of the first 200,000 reservations). Ford didn’t even project how many reservations would be fulfilled.

And I think it is reasonable to assume Ford knew that people in my situation weren’t in the running. Ford could have easily been more transparent about who would be in the running for a 2022, but I think they decided the benefit to the company was worth pissing off a lot of people with day 1 reservations. There were 20,000 reservations in the first 24 hours. I reserved in the first 20 minutes, and me and 8 people who were faster than me in my city are not even getting 2022s.

Not to mention that the emails I was sent by Ford were all implying I would be getting a 2022, including the fact that my reservation said I successfully reserved a 2022.

 

[Dparke55]

I see Ford has sold $40,000 EV trucks !
My dealer positioned orders in the order they received them.
I like many others, did not want a Pro. Lariat has always been a big seller for F series. I would say the Lightning ordering has been pretty smooth.

 

[Rockman5159]

I'm pissed at Ford. But is it fair? Do I just need to be patient and happy? First, I want to lay out the excuses for Ford.

Global pandemic, duh!
Supply chain problems
Demand was way more than they expected
There are too many unknowns for Ford to be much more transparent without causing more problems
This is a first generation, and there are always hiccups
Pretty much all car companies are struggling to deliver vehicles and communicate clearly about it.

Here are some things I think Ford screwed up.

Not being clear about when reservations would go live.
Only requiring a $100 dollar deposit even after the Bronco s#!+ show.
Doing reservations as a whole and not segmenting into trim levels at all (I know this can go both ways, but I think it blew up in their face)
Providing no early feedback on how many reservations would be fulfilled into orders in the first year
Allowing rampant reporting of 15,000 Lightnings being manufactured for MY 2022
Not explaining what percentage of the MY 2022 orders would go to reservation holders
Not being clear early on that some states would get preferences (ZEV)
Not being clear early on that some dealers would get a tiny allocation, despite a huge number of reservations
Playing games with dealer prioritizations without any clarity (especially when some dealers got 25 prioritizations but were only allocated 4 or 5 trucks)
Not addressing added dealer markup from the beginning. (Allowing ADM provides incentives for dealers to screw around)
Providing vague communications that suggest reservation holders will be getting a lightning in the near future.
XLT ER pricing being a joke
Platinum pricing making very little sense (to me, at least)

(Just FYI, my reservation email came 18 minutes after the presentation started. Somehow I was 14/700+ reservations at my dealer. I will not be getting a 2022)

To me, my top list of excuses doesn't really excuse anything in my bottom list. Had Ford told me a month after I reserved that I was likely in line for a 2023, I wouldn't be bugged at them at all.

The bottom line is the our Unted States of America has become way to dependent on foreign countrys to supply us not only electronics and petroleum products,but also clothing and food and American jobs. Our politicians have sold us out all in the sake of lining their pockets . I feel as if we have been more dependant on other countires starting with the NAFTA trade agreement .

 

[Rockman5159]

The bottom line is the our Unted States of America has become way to dependent on foreign countrys to supply us not only electronics and petroleum products,but also clothing and food and American jobs. Our politicians have sold us out all in the sake of lining their pockets . I feel as if we have been more dependant on other countires starting with the NAFTA trade agreement .

 

[Rockman5159]

I see Ford has sold $40,000 EV trucks !
My dealer positioned orders in the order they received them.
I like many others, did not want a Pro. Lariat has always been a big seller for F series. I would say the Lightning ordering has been pretty smooth.

When the government controls an individuals money,food,and money,then the government controls that individual.........This is my personal opinon

 

[Ruination]

Some were always going to be disappointed. Just sounds like you should have tempered your expectations.

Specially when some of the deciding factors were released.

 

[jb56]

Some were always going to be disappointed. Just sounds like you should have tempered your expectations.

Specially when some of the deciding factors were released.

Ford should have tempered my expectations

 

[F150ROD]

I think it’s fair. They should have started out with Reservation + Configuration and stopped taking Reservation once they had everything sold out instead of allowing people to keep reserving. Then the whole priority circus.

On the bright side, I believe everyone from now on will have a much better experience ordering and taking delivery of Ford truly intends to make separate EV centers

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