Mike Levine saying outright he does NOT care about Granger/Chapman/SAC

[mpeugeot]

Look, so far two dealers have earned my trust and a two others appear trustworthy so far. That would be Granger & Chapman have proven it to me directly and Stephens and Town and Country appear to do what they say.

Contrast that with the many others have proven untrustworthy, including military auto sales (MAS), although not nearly as badly as some like Moon TWP or worse.

If it were not for the fact that I was under a contract to purchase prior to learning that MAS would not honor their price match guarantee, my first Bronco would have likely been ordered through Granger or Chapman, KNOWING that it would be a longer wait, but that they were fair, transparent, and honest is what earned them my respect. It wasn't the price (my first Bronco is under MSRP), but I would NEVER do business with MAS again, period.

Sponsored

 

[Atomicdog]

When questioned why Ford is no longer honoring their commitment to ship Broncos in approximate reservation order, Ford has started mentioning state laws. It is not just Levine, but other Ford representatives and statements to the press as well. It appears that Ford's lawyers have perhaps insisted on it. Does anybody know why?

Did the big dealer mafia find some arcane state laws to threaten Ford into giving them large allotments of dealer stock? Is it illegal in some states for Ford to knowingly facilitate inter-state auto sales? Is it a red herring?

This is the original Ford commitment. Ford has said that they no longer plan to honor these commitments. Ford has moved back to a traditional allocation model and there will now be massive disparities in the order that otherwise identical reservations are filled, and mass shipments of dealer stock will begin in 2022 while many Bronco reservations placed in 2020 at smaller dealers will no longer be eligible to receive a 2022 Bronco.

Ford justifying their shitty decision by saying "It's not illegal" isn't a strong position.

 

[GoneAndDusted]

There's absolutely no reason to pick any dealer that's more than 200 miles away, so for all those out of state buyers - that's on you.

A few years back, I was looking to buy a Raptor. My small dealer back home where I had purchased my current truck tried to get another allocation to get me a Raptor, but they couldn't. He was going to sell it to me for under MSRP.

All the local dealers where I currently live who had Raptors on the lot were anywhere from $5K to $10K ADM. That right there showed me not to even consider these dealers when reserving my Bronco.

I reserved my Bronco with my small dealer back home. I was in their initial allocation for '21, then got bumped to '22 orders because of the hardtop debacle for the 2 doors. Seeing as the allocation changed for '22, I seriously doubt I'm even in their allocation for '22.

 

[andrusoid]

In case anyone's been waiting for an answer:
@mrlevine Fill your Bronco reservation orders ahead of allocations. We’ve already waited 15 months. Stop punishing your customers. #reservationsoverallocations
His answer tells me they just don't care.

in case he deletes his tweet, here's what it says:

Mike Levine
Replying to @robtraut and @KogodBiz
That’s exactly the plan for more than 98% of customers that didn’t place orders with a small dealer that created a special deal to attract a large number of orders.

The way I read that is that for 98% of customers, they will get their reservations before allocations. Granger attracted well over a thousand reservations without the ability to fill them in a timely manner. Mine was #861 or something. I received zero communications from Granger other than the "time to convert your res. to an order". No info given as to timeframe. Turns out that is 3 to 4 years. How is that doing anyone any good?

 

[HotdogThud]

I don’t see what the big deal is here. 98% will get their reservations filled by the end of 2022. The cost of getting $1-2k under invoice turns out to be a slightly longer wait. Everything is a gamble, sometimes it pays off and other times it doesn’t.

Replying to this just so we can all come back in a year and see how well this prediction turned out.

 

[Aviboy97]

Not saying I’m against dealers like Granger, but if Ford was upfront about their allocation method, starting with 2021, then these dealers have no right to complain.

If they overshot their allocation by doing the types of deals they were, then they needed to be upfront with their reservation holders that they might not get filled in a timely fashion or pushed

Can someone verify that Ford dealers were given an allocation formula prior to 2021 launch?

 

[dbeyers]

At least Tesla does not charge ADM so there are no surprises at the end. Even when you have a written sales agreement with some Ford dealer's, they still try and screw you with last minute ADM.

It’s tough for Ford to control pricing to the high end … the only way is to build vehicles quickly - there always seems to be some aHole who has to impress by being the first.

 

[Kos]

I'll give Mike this, at least he's blunt/straight forward. Would you rather he give you some spin and not change at thing?

 

[dbeyers]

Not saying I’m against dealers like Granger, but if Ford was upfront about their allocation method, starting with 2021, then these dealers have no right to complain.

If they overshot their allocation by doing the types of deals they were, then they needed to be upfront with their reservation holders that they might not get filled in a timely fashion or pushed

Can someone verify that Ford dealers were given an allocation formula prior to 2021 launch?

I think Ford was upfront … they had to react to the Grangers of their world? I am sure they reserve the right to change it at any time.

 

[Brocked]

I made a comment months ago about how Granger was never going to be able to fill their orders for years to come and they should come out and tell their disciples the reality of the numbers.

I WAS ROASTED, ROASTED on this site from a few arrogant and nasty Grangerites. My comments were actually removed because I was arguing this exact scenario that is playing out right now.

Maybe this comment will be removed also. I learned you cant question a site sponsor, even if its true.

Good luck everyone!

 

[Arrowbear Rider]

Considering all of the posters that are posting that all the dealers in their area i.e. in Chicago 5 dealers are marking up and treating customers poorly, those of us that are being treated properly are fortunate. Maybe we need a thread about positive dealer experiences that spread the word on all the other dealers that are doing well by their customers. Tuttle Click has treated me well.

 

[Rahkmalla]

Not saying I’m against dealers like Granger, but if Ford was upfront about their allocation method, starting with 2021, then these dealers have no right to complain.

If they overshot their allocation by doing the types of deals they were, then they needed to be upfront with their reservation holders that they might not get filled in a timely fashion or pushed

Can someone verify that Ford dealers were given an allocation formula prior to 2021 launch?

Yes, their 2021 allocation formula was 100% based on reservations converted to orders. That why Granger/SAC/Chapman offered the deals they did. Small to medium dealers saw how the system worked and decided they could turn that around and make it work for them and their customers.

The rest of this is conjecture alone: Ford and their larger dealers caught on to what those 3 were doing and threw a hissy fit and changed the formula for 2022 to punish people. The new allocation formula was widely reported last week, though there were hushed rumors of it in the weeks prior.

 

[Skmac]

Chapman is 25 minutes from my house and was the closest dealer even willing to commit to any price at all, let alone a discount. I got told "we'll determine market value when the truck arrives" or some variant thereof 6 different times. Why would I agree to pay an unknown amount of ADM vs 4% below invoice?

That's exactly why I hunted around I wasn't looking for 5000 off I was looking for a deal where i knew they wouldn't wouldn't be charge 5000 ADM on top of everything else

 

[LSBronco13]

In case anyone's been waiting for an answer:
@mrlevine Fill your Bronco reservation orders ahead of allocations. We’ve already waited 15 months. Stop punishing your customers. #reservationsoverallocations
His answer tells me they just don't care.

in case he deletes his tweet, here's what it says:

Mike Levine
Replying to @robtraut and @KogodBiz
That’s exactly the plan for more than 98% of customers that didn’t place orders with a small dealer that created a special deal to attract a large number of orders.

This country was built on competition. It allowed the consumer to shop prices and it kept inflation low. What is disturbing about Mark's Tweet is how cavalier he is in his statement about "98%". Here's a "98%" back to Levine. That is the % of small businesses that DRIVES the US economy. Ford, build the Bronco and honor your agreement to the thousands of fans that went through YOUR defined protocols and move forward with production. You will save yourself in the LONG run.
This back and forth has diminished the good faith between us, the dealers, and FORD. Now I will return to my FORD hammock and dream about what might have been.

 

[Rahkmalla]

I made a comment months ago about how Granger was never going to be able to fill their orders for years to come and they should come out and tell their disciples the reality of the numbers.

I WAS ROASTED, ROASTED on this site from a few arrogant and nasty Grangerites. My comments were actually removed because I was arguing this exact scenario that is playing out right now.

Maybe this comment will be removed also. I learned you cant question a site sponsor, even if its true.

Good luck everyone!

You were roasted for providing information in direct 180° contrast to the promises Ford had made. You were right to be roasted then (as current information disputed you) and you are right to gloat now, as Ford has gone completely back on what they said.

Both things can be true, you can be wrong then and right now. You weren't predicting the future like you seem to be claiming, you took a guess with zero information. The fact that you got one right does not make you Nostradamus, but it does give you a certain leverage to feel holier than thou if you so choose to be the type of person who revels in the dismay of others.

Sponsored