It is not about appeasing the small dealers, it is about honoring the time stamp as initially promised. If I am a day 2 reservation I would not expect to be ahead of a day 1 with similar build. Not sure what is so hard to understand, also building stock units so bigger dealers can mark up...
I don't believe a single Granger customer expects their Bronco 1st, what they do expect is Ford follow through on the timestamp reservation which was initially communicated (prior to building stock units).
I think Ford is forgetting that the 2% they are shoving to the side are enthusiasts that already have multiple Fords or have bought multiple Fords. Also, lets not forget they will be future brand ambassadors for the Bronco and likely repeat buyers.
Big dealer or small dealer does not matter, Ford stated they were building all reservations prior to stock units...that is the issue. If a big dealer wants more reservations then they should have been more competitive and transparent regarding price.