Ford Suffers Setbacks on Big Sellers: Bronco and Mustang Mach-E

Ford’s enduring a tough day, forced to deal with big problems on two of its hottest vehicles: the Bronco and Mustang Mach-E. 

The long-awaited Bronco’s problems with its removable hardtop still haven’t been resolved, forcing it to replace the pieces on existing models and halt production on new hardtop models to solve the issue. Soft top Broncos will continue to roll down the line.

Meanwhile stopping production is the problem for the Mach-E as it awaits — no surprise — more semiconductors. Perhaps no company’s been hit harder by the chip shortage than Ford. The company’s had to temporarily shut down builds on its biggest sellers, like the F-150, Explorer and now the Mach-E.

Bronco busted

The problem with the Bronco’s roof applies to the removable molded-in color plastic panels only, as reported by the website, bronco6g.com. The color and protective coating applied to the roof pieces is faulty, which becomes apparent a few weeks after the vehicle’s been exposed to the elements.

As a result, the coating comes off on the edges of the panels, which are not smooth. With a bit of time, weather can change the color of the panels. Reportedly, this issue’s plagued the design for some time now. 

The automaker’s telling owners who have already taken delivery of their vehicles that they will replace the panels at no cost. However, the real tough sell is for buyers who haven’t gotten their vehicles yet and will now be forced to wait even longer to get their vehicle — possibly until 2022.

Not only might you have to wait until next year, it may be next year’s model as well, which could make those who felt it was important get the first year offering angry. The exception is for the prospective owners who ordered a First Edition model, those will be 2021 vehicles.

Ford is offering reservation holders $1,100 in reward points, which can be used to buy Bronco accessories for their SUVs. Also anyone who made a reservation before March 21, 2020, are protected from any price increases that could be applied to 2022 vehicles.

Soft top owners are obviously excluded from the problem and are virtually assured of getting their vehicle a little sooner now.

Mach-E matters

The Mustang Mach-E, which is sold out through the rest of the year, now faces the same delays that have plagued the F-150, the Explorer and other vehicles, due to the dearth of semiconductors. 

According to MachEForum.com, new owners will now be forced to wait six weeks or more for their vehicles. Once the automaker gets the chips it needs, and installs them in the vehicles, it will update the owners via email about when they can expect to get their EV.

To smooth ruffled feathers, Ford is offering 250 kWh of free charging via the “Blue Oval Charge Network.” 

The delays are another gut punch for the automaker, which sees the Mach-E’s turn in just 12 days. Not only that, but they’re also big additions to the bottom line as 95% of customers choose the Blue Oval Intelligence software state service. Sales of the Mach-E jumped 15.8% in July compared to June, and this is definitely going to stall that momentum.

The Bronco’s issues also hit the bottom line as they, as the automaker noted in its July sales release, play “a significant role in Ford’s transaction price expansion. Ford SUV transaction pricing in July is a record of $42,000 per SUV, up $6,200 over last year.”

Source: https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2021/08/ford-suffers-setbacks-on-big-sellers-bronco-and-mustang-mach-e/