Will Bronco Fatigue Cost Ford Reservations?

[indio22]

Those complaining really need to either take a chill pill or just go buy something else - it’s that simple.

43 years since the last open top Bronco. 15 years since the concept vehicle. Now possibly 2 more years until Bronco release? People have a legit gripe about the time this has all taken. It's actually my number one gripe. Hope Ford includes a side step - for all the retirees trying to climb into their Sasquatch version. Seriously though, I like what I've seen of the new Bronco. Kudos to Ford. But come on - how about making this vehicle available before I have to join AARP?

Sponsored

 

[regularbronco]

The anticipation is not for the faint of heart. I mean it's like seeing Christmas presents under the tree and every so often, one of us sneaks up to the presents, shakes it, squeezes it, guesses it's weight, or even smells it!

Then we share our findings with each other revealing more and more about the different wrapped presents to hope to come up with some consensus between us!

it's killing some of us, we can't sleep and stare at the calendar and the clock to the date and time we get to finally find out what's in each package.

I personally trying to enjoy anxiety and excitement and love sharing our 'Discoveries' on this forum.

 

[FLSTFI Dave]

I can wait. Don’t need a new 4x4. I do want the new Bronco more so than Wrangler. Both my brothers have those. COVID is screwing lots up. Many 2020 mid engine corvette orders will go infilled this year, plant shut.

 

[fomoco]

Fatigue? On the coolest truck released in decades? Never! Maybe excitement increasing to maximum levels causing a lack of sleep and an overthinking of all possibilities making you think it's fatigue.

I doubt there would be many dealers upset about reservations dropping. The would get allocations sooner and sell for a markup over the non-reserved versions. For anyone dropping out there are two others to take their place.

What else is coming out over the next 12 months could rival the Bronco and its target market? Nothing. A V8 in a Jeep? LOL!

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

Nope...OP is just a sales lacky that tries to put myself in my customers shoes so that I do a better job of taking care of their needs than my competition. Right or wrong, I expect the same from suppliers that I am preparing to send my hard earned money to....a lot of money in this case! Ford has loads of smart people and probably also consultants on staff to prepare for this. A disjointed roll out deserves to be questioned. Maybe some of their geniuses are reading this (my hope) and they take back some great ideas mentioned here to help them regroup. The 3 phase rollout by Vintage (Reveal, Build, Reserve) would surely have gone better than the Fire, Ready, Aim approach demonstrated.

It's ok to be critical, but an understanding of the complexity of the situation is in order. As in business or the military, any leader will tell you that you can plan, build, analyze, test, etc, but no plan survives first contact with reality/the enemy.

Ford indeed knew they had a winner, there was more than enough market research, plus they've been building cars for nearly 100 years now. However, having a World Beater is a totally different thing and who was Ford to look to for precedent? Right, because there is no precedent for what they've just done. Only example that I can think of as far as cars is concerned is Tesla. For consumer products period it would be Apple with iPhone, maybe gaming consoles.

Not even Tesla sold 100,000 of something this popular in a first year. The Model 3 was a crazy role out and a lot of folks took possession of some real turd rolling refrigerators as a result; Ford doesn't want that dumpster fire of a release either. (Tesla has sense done much better and has sold close to 300,000 of the things).

Good to see a sales guy here to get into the wash with the customers, but it's either do that or suffer. Ford corporate as well as many other manufacturers comb this forum all day long and there is likely a percentage of lurkers and members who are also salespeople as well, but Ford isn't talking to you guys and honestly I wouldn't either; don't have to. The consumer for a vehicle like this doesn't need to be "sold"; we already know everything, we have internets. The sales person's job is to complete the transaction as smoothly as possible.

Vintage was right in a lot of ways, but chaos is good marketing, plus, shoot your wad too early and there is nothing to talk about for many months. This disjointed roll out keeps us talking and it's kinda fun hearing everyone.

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

A lot going on in this thread already... Ford should have been better prepared for the excitement and rush of reservations. Test the reservation website. Use a server that can handle the demand. Even with Covid-19, there was enough time to do this; it did not have to be performed in person.

Most of us on the Forum are passionate about the Bronco. We know more than the average salesperson. I wonder if Ford was withholding information from dealers to avoid leaks. How many Ford dealers are there in North America? Someone was bound to spill the beans pre-release, post photos online, etc. I think the Forum did an *amazing* job of keeping us informed.

I agree that the Build function should have been ready a week after reservations were placed. Imagine how we'd be complaining about that site crashing or the colors not appearing properly.

Yeah, the new Escape, I mean Bronco Sport, should have been the last member of the Bronco family to be built, not the first. How much excitement is there for the Sport? (To be honest, I haven't looked at any of the YouTube videos featuring the Sport.)

I have waited decades for a Bronco. Another ten months to a year to get my dream ride? It means I can save more for a bigger down payment. It WILL be worth the wait, yinz, hold your horses.

I feel that Ford released the Bronco Sport first because, why not? Good way to capture the "not too serious" crowd, who would still be able to ride the real Bronco hype train and get initial visibility while also ramping up that plant down is Mexico.

When you have a true winner like Bronco, no need to play your hand early, but hold that ace until you just have to play it. If Jeeps only response is putting a V8 into a vehicle that can't survive a crash test, knock themselves out!

 

[bladsquatch]

I can wait. Don’t need a new 4x4. I do want the new Bronco more so than Wrangler. Both my brothers have those. COVID is screwing lots up. Many 2020 mid engine corvette orders will go infilled this year, plant shut.

Oh that’s next. ? The governor shuts down the plant....... oh boy.

 

[SliderJack]

Those complaining really need to either take a chill pill or just go buy something else - it’s that simple.

Stop complaining about other people complaining!

 

[JimmyD]

Will a faulty reservation system, dwell time to have pricing out for options, a 5 month wait to actually place order, lots of unknowns about how dealers will price and then a 6 month wait for delivery be something Ford rethinks in launching future vehicles? Getting folks excited and then slipping back into a very long process with lots of unknowns is wearing thin on me. It's the girl you always wanted to go out with saying yes, then continuing to put you off for what seem like very reasonable reasons but still it starts to make you realize there are other fish in the sea. I predict Bronco Fatigue could be a leading cause of canceled reservations. Ford should be thinking about how to keep my give a damn button from turning off. Maybe having dealers better prepared to engage with buyers would have been a good strategy? Anyone else feel same or is my lack of patience showing?

Getting weary of delays too and slow reveals. Same thing happened with the new Ranger, (which I got ).

 

[JB93]

FYI...I am not a Ford sales guy....I am a salesperson in industry who can be critical of the process and it is a bit frustrating to offer a company my money when their support system/tools have some major flaws. I love the vehicle just not the process and wanted to see how others felt about it...which I guess has not been a surprise. Some hate it...others tolerate it...and others are just happy to be on the list to get one at some point for some price. Cool cool.

 

[jaruss01]

I definitely think the number of reservations being fulfilled will go down a lot. But maybe not so much due to fatigue. however there could be a lot of missed opportunities if the timing slips particularly for those that are tied to lease schedules. Do they want to continue to roll the dice on timing? Or do they throw their hands up in the air and walk into another dealership with 1000 bucks and walk out with a different replacement lease instead of continuous delays, lease extensions and/or car rentals to bridge the gap. Don’t forget, leasing dominates certain areas of the country.

top reasons less orders will be fulfilled

#1 - A lot of people throwing up $100 reservations may have no idea how the 'jeep wrangler' pricing structure works. Ford didnt help either by advertising $29.5k. Dont forget, there are a lot of idiots out there. For the idiots, many may walk when they realize this car is $10k more than they anticipated. For the intellects on this forum, there could still be some fall-out if they cant get enough content for their budget. Or they simply take offense to the pricing. And can’t justify the wait time on top of that.

#2 - Given our other thread, it seems like 1 out of 4 people have an extra reservation they dont plan on fulfilling. Although that is probably due to enthusiasts on forums like this obsessing over the process, and not so much indicative of mass buyers outside of 6G.

#3 - Possible ADM

 

[UncleBuck]

I think some people will cancel as interest wanes, but this forum is literally on fire with posts. People are interested and keep coming back for leaks and updates. There will also be cancelations for the people who reserved multiple Broncos but I’m betting that wasn’t as many as we think. At this point I’m definitely waiting and I don’t care. There’s not another body on frame 4x4 SUV on the market I want to buy so Ford is getting my money.

The only reason I might end up canceling will be because I bought a GT350 instead and I can’t afford (Wife won’t let me) two 60k car payments at once. If the configuration machine comes out in August and I’m absolutely disgusted by the options then I’m getting the Shelby and I’ll wait 4-5 years to get the Bronco when they’ve work out kinks. I calculate about a 3% chance of me hating the configuration and buying a Shelby but either way I’m sending a ton of money to Ford this year.

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

That's the thing about enthusiasts, not that many of us. Although there is a vocal minority on the forum, the truly committed likely are around 12K-15K. So once they get us out fo the way, who buys future Broncos? There are plenty of buyers, but many are just car customers who have leanings towards adventure. Others are truly cross shopping.

However, thing about hype is that it can turn the apathetic into zealots quickly as "trendy" this truck will be.

No one really likes to be left out, so following the passionate and "cool crowd" will keep a large number of people on board with their reservations. Also keep in mid that people stretch themselves into cars everyday. 72 or 84 month finance terms will be common with Bronco, so don't think the price will drive people away. Americans spend money where we really want to; doesn't need to make sense.

 

[cybersal]

We are zealots! It would be good to know how many reservations Ford has received, how many are from Forum members, and how many Forum members made duplicate reservations.

 

[rmc523]

So, I'll first say that the wait won't affect me. I've been waiting for years, I can wait a few more months. I was already likely a late order anyway since I want Velocity Blue.

That said, sure, there will be plenty of reservation cancellations for various reasons - whether that be "fatigue", double reservations, bad timing (people with leases), etc., there was never going to be 100% conversion rate.....apparently Ford is targeting a 50-65% conversion.

As for the reveal and the lack of info, it's common for vehicles to be revealed with general info at first and more details released months later.

Bronco Sport is set to launch first, with Bronco proper later. So with that in mind, their options were:

1) Reveal all 3 at once, with largely full info for the Sport, but not everything ready for Bronco (what they did)
2) Reveal Bronco Sport by itself, confuse Joe/Jane Public about "this is the Bronco we've waited for?" Reveal Bronco with all info months later.

The question I have is - would y'all have rather had Ford wait and reveal Bronco months later, but with just about all info at once? Or would you rather have seen it like we did and have questions?

Sponsored