Delays have been plaguing the automotive industry lately, and Ford is certainly no exception. Unfortunately, The Blue Oval hasn’t been doing a great job of keeping customers updated about their Ford vehicle orders. For instance, a solid amount of Ford Maverick order holders have been left in the dark regarding the status of their pickup, prompting some Ford Authority readers to reach out to us for more information.
This phenomenon is not limited to the Maverick, as we’ve received countless emails from buyers of new Ford vehicles who are understandably concerned that their Ford vehicle order is taking a lot longer to arrive than expected. Understandably, this turn of events creates various issues related to timing and not knowing whether to turn in or extend the lease of one’s current vehicle, or how much maintenance to perform on someone’s current vehicle before the ordered model arrives. While we’re unable able to provide information about specific vehicles and their status, we’d like to take this time to outline the major issues contributing to the delay in new Ford vehicle orders and their arrival at dealers.
The biggest factor associated with the delay of new Ford vehicles to dealers is the global microchip shortage. In short, there just aren’t enough chips to produce new vehicles at the same rates and in the same quantities as before the became an issue. The circumstance has forced many automakers, including but not limited to The Blue Oval, to reduce production until the situation improves.
This means allocating chips to vehicles that generate the biggest return, which for Ford are the F-Series pickups, SUVs like Bronco, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, as well as large crossovers like the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator. It also means withholding features from new Ford vehicles, such as Multicontour seat with Active Motion Removal from the 2023 Ford F-150. This feature was also constrained from the 2022 F-150, indicating that the shortage hasn’t improved much since then.
Ford CEO Jim Farley was confident that the chip shortage would be resolved by 2023, but unfortunately he now predicts that the shortage will persist through 2023. FoMoCo has been making deals with chipmakers in order to secure semiconductors to boost production of new Fords, but we have yet to see the fruits of these labors.
Another reason that your new Ford vehicle order hasn’t arrived yet is related to various kinks in the supply chain. Ongoing issues related to COVID-19 restrictions in China as well as various geopolitical matters have prevented The Blue Oval from get its hands on the parts necessary for continued production.
For instance, recent lockdowns in China stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic created delays for the all-new Ford Ranger in international markets. So much so, in fact, that 91 suppliers couldn’t get their goods to necessary facilities. Meanwhile, Ford production in Europe has been heavily impacted by the military situation in Ukraine, and these supply chain issues have extended to Ford production in Australia as well.
Finally, even after the (lower quantities of) new Ford vehicles have been built and ready to ship, it’s difficult to get them from the assembly plant to the dealership due to various logistical issues.
For instance, staffing issues in the cargo transportation industry have been wreaking havoc on delivering vehicles to dealers. To start, there’s a shortage of workers who are trained to operate rail cars. That issue is further exacerbated by a shortage of those who service and maintain the rail cars.
Similar issues have also begun to extend to the vehicle carriers (trucks) that serve as the final leg of the journey that new Ford vehicles make from their plant to the dealership. This is the result of two primary factors: drivers have become lesser in quantity, and parts required for maintaining these trucks have become increasingly more difficult to source, incidentally due to similar supply chain issues outlined above, although for the respective makers of large trucks and their parts.
Unfortunately, these various issues will likely continue to impact new Ford vehicle production and supply for the near- and medium-terms. The good news is that demand for The Blue Oval’s products hasn’t slowed at all, with order banks currently at 300,000 units, meaning two things. First, Ford will have to continue to work hard to get its products to dealers and into buyers’ driveways, while finding creating solutions to solve these issues. Second, order holders will need to wait for their vehicle to be built and for it to arrive to the dealer. Whatever the case, your new Ford vehicle hasn’t been forgotten, it’s just been held up due to various unprecedented circumstances.
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View Comments
Remove all the unnecessary glamour, touch screens , parking assists, lane control etc. A real driver does not require this crap let’s get back to driving not riding.
Oh and when you remove these drop the price by 30%. Many of these items were the brainchild of insurance company’s .
I agree. Get rid of the frilly dillys and go back to manual controls. I can turn a radio knob.
Fully agree. Never used the park assist, lane control etc buttons. Been driving since 1961, and an IAM driver, so I should know what to do by now without all this expensive rubbish.
Much more enjoyable and satisfying to drive without all the gismos.
It'll be 11 months August 1st. Still no build date for my 22 F-250 Platinum Tremor. Sad part is others have same options as I do and ordered this year and have received theirs. So much for first in first out.
Ordered my 2022 F250 Lariat Tremor 29 January 2022 and took delivery 17 April 2022.
I ordered my 250 lariat tremor day after thanksgiving 2021, still don't have it 12/16/22
Same. Order date 11/8/2021. Built 12/12/2022. Dealership SILENCE. Multiple trucks have arrived. Nothing on our order
This is all sounding old, and just like transitory inflation, that was bantered about by the FED for over a year, they are probably no longer true, or believable.
the chip shortage situation was and is still being handled very poorly by Ford and the enthusiasm for solving the problem compared to the enthusiasm for new EV technology and production by Farley had left Ford's long term customer base with a bad taste in their mouth. Kick the can down the road and wait it out is not a "better idea". Wake up Ford, this won't end well fror you.
ford needs new management-maybe their salary should be set by their performance-where else do you get paid big bucks for not producing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????
Why can I get a completely loaded Jeep Wrangler in months but have waited over a year for my Bronco? Isn't Jeep under the same type of logistic issues, chip shortages and China supply constraints as Ford?
I ordered a nicely equipped Ram 1500 January 14, took delivery February 18. It came in, and was a complete truck. No missing chips, no credits for “not available”.
What I ordered was a unique enough combination of options that there was no way this truck was sitting in the lot somewhere waiting to be shipped. It was indeed built shipped and delivered in a little bit more than a month. That’s good evening for the old days
Sure...or a RAM 1500 Classic that is so dated it uses transistors instead of chips
I do not know about the electric vehicles build, but I would think that they are chip intensive.
Hmmm may this be a big part of the chip shortage?, In the rush to get em done, and out to the public ? Asking for a friend.
Not true. The useless CEO at Ford said himself that they have chips, they are just being diverted to EVs, which Americans don't want. They are purposely suppressing the market at this point to try to force EVs on us. We will not comply.
That is a GREAT point!! Ive had my 2022 2 door Bronco on order for 9 months. Nothing but crickets!
waiting over 13 months on basic Maverick it's like I don't exist with Ford and dealer
My Mustang convertible with the Coastal limited package was put into production on 7/28. How long does production take and how long can I expect shipping to take. Flat Rock to Naples ,Florida
It took my Mustang Mach1 almost exactly a week. You should be able to see your window sticker from a link on the tracking page, from a link on the email you got. On there will be your "BLEND" Date. Your car enters final assembly on that date and should be "BUILT" within 24-48 hours of then. The emails are a day late, but you can see them first checking the tracking again.
I believe ford is putting way to much time into the EV market could bring the F150 gas down from the best selling pickup. If they don’t get them to customers. Waited this time but not again. Ordered mine Dec 14 and have a build date of sept 24.
This it in a nut shell . This EV crap is a pipe dream for greenies .No way folks outside the city can use them for hauling campers and boats they are lying about the distance between charging when hauling loads .My superduty has been on order since sept 2021 with no word from ford .Disgusting the way they are treating customers . Sad part is they will be taking orders for 2023 s in October with tens of thousands of 2022s not made and the salesmen will tell customers it will only take a few months to get them like they did to me .