ice-capades

In my opinion, after being responsible for ordering our dealership's inventory for the past 26+ years, Ford's marketing team made a big mistake dropping the SEL model series. The Fusuion SEL has become well established in the market and known to include more standard features including the SEL's standard leather seat trim. Now we have no Fusion SEL series but multiple Fusion SE packages including multiple powertrain options along with cloth and leather options. Retaining the SEL model for the 2013 Fusion would have meant a higher residual value for leased vehicles and helped to continue the product/series differentiation from an SE Fusion if the leather interior trim was restricted to the SEL and Titanium trim levels. Now, months after Ford started scheduling 2013 Fusion orders they've decided to offer a Fusion Hybrid Titanium series following the recent Lincoln model. The customer will be able to choose between a 2013 Fusion Titanium AWD (Gas) or a 2013 Fusion Hybrid Titanium FWD at the same price. I think this makes sense as it can only help dealers sell more Fusion Hybrid vehicles. But shouldn't Ford's marketing team figured this out 6 months or more ago?

The 6 weeks OTD (Order-to-Delivery) should be pretty close based on my experience with dealership orders so far.

The EV certification requirement in order for a dealer to be able to order and sell the 2013 C-MAX Energi or 2013 Fusion Hybrid Energi involves more than just installing a couple of charging stations. I was told last week that Ford's certification process is running behind schedule and taht Best Buy (the vendor handling the charging station installations) is running about two months behind schedule. We haven't received our EV certification yet but have been authorized to prep and deliverr 2013 C-MAX Energi units arriving for a fleet delivery.

On some vehicle lines, Ford offers three interior trim choices... Black, Grey & Camel. I actually wish they'd eliminate the Camel trim option as both the grey and camel choices are so similar that I'd happily accept anything that will simplify the vehicle ordering process. Across all vehicle lines, the black interior trim is by far the most popular.

The "last in, first out" scenario is pretty much my experience at the dealership level with the 2013 Fusion situation. In an attempt to help solve the backlog of 2013 Fusions involved in the shipping delays, cars are being sent to the Flat Rock (Mustang) Assembly Plant in Michigan to be worked on. Retail orders were not scheduled until the "OK to Buy" status was reached which was about mid-September when the shipping release was originally issued. Retail orders placed prior to mid-September would have sat in the USOB (Unscheduled Order Bank) until then with a "Material Hold" notice also referencing that 2013 Fusion Retail Orders were also part of the Retail Order Verification Program that required dealers to upload a copy of the customer's driver's license along with a signed buyers order to the verification website... after which the retail orders would be scheduled above the dealer's available allocation. The delay for retail orders built since early October will probably not last all that much longer... hopefully for all concerned! As frustrating as the delays are... this is another example of Ford being pro-active with quality concerns and making sure the cars meet Ford's quality standards before being sent to dealers. Better to address any issues head on than risk the media attention, etc. involved with a recall situation!

Interesting message thread especially regarding Ford's future vehicle production planned for the Flat Rock plant. Ford has already stated that the next generation Mustang (2015MY) will be sold globally for the first time and Ford expects to double Mustang production as a result. It's also public information that Ford will start building the all-new 2013 Ford Fusion at Flat Rock starting in December 2012, which will substantially increase Fusion production to support antipated Fusion demand. Where Lincoln or other production fits into Flat Rock assembly plant production is speculation at this point.

The original 1964 1/2 Mustangs were considered 1965 MY's for registration purposes. As such, regardless of past "Anniversary" badging, I'd be surprised to see the 50th Anniversary Edition on anything other than the all-new 2015 Mustang.

Our dealership has had a number of "Retail" 2013 Escape orders arrive in the past week or so... all with a 3-4 week Order-to-Delivery time!

The information via Donlen is for fleet orders!

THe Titanium Hybrids are not even available for order yet!

Our store has only received one 2013 Fusion so far... S model in Ingot Silver that was sold and delivered in just 4 days. Our next Fusion (S in Sterling Grey) is at the ramp and should be received in the next day or so. Ford dealers get weekly reports (SIMS) that give dealers information on the inventory, options and colors in stock for their dealership as well as those in the market area along with the sales rate. I use this information to help in ordering inventory for stock that will sell the quickest taking into account our specific dealership's history. In placing our initial 2013 Fusion orders I also looked at Ford's official press photos to see how the new model looked in various colors. As an additional resource, I looked at how the colors looked on actual 2013 Escapes. The Deep Impact Blue and the Ruby Red look great on the new Escape because of the new designs and the way light shows off and accents the colors. We're stocking 2013 Escapes with a slightly increased inventory mix of Deep Impact Blue and Ruby Red but the four primary colors are still White Platinum, Tuxedo Black, Ingot Silver and Sterling Grey which are the 4 best selling colors across nearly all vehicle lines, though not necessarily in the order listed. I think that the new Fusion is going to be much like the new Escape color-wise. It's going to look great in all the colors although I have reservations about the Ginger Ale Metallic. With the bold new styling I think that the Deep Impact Blue and Ruby Red are going to be strong sellers on the new Fusion.

I've not seen any evidence of a "Stop Ship" order on the 2013 Fusion. It's taking a while for the backlog of produced Fusions to get released for shipping but I have more Fusions in transit every day.

Yes... but the weekly commodity issues determine what powertrains and options are available for scheduling.

FYI... The current order-to-delivery time for our delealership on the all-new 2013 Escape is only 4-5 weeks!

Ford has been very inconsistent with the Thunderbird's market placement. As such, I hope that Ford is very cautious in considering a future T'Bird model and do more than just produce a limited edition model for short term sales.

Ford has to first establish the new 2013 Ford C-MAX Hybrid in the market. It's very possible that Ford will add BLIS and other features to the C-MAX but you'll have to give it time.

Ford did a great job with the all-new 2013 Fusion but made two big mistakes. THe first mistake was dropping the Fusion SEL model with standard leather seat trim and instead creating multiple SE versions with different powertrains and cloth and leather versions. The SEL model has become well established but future customers may well feel like they're having to downgrade to an SE if they want leather seat trim but not the expense of moving up to a Fusion Titanium. Besides, the Fusion SEL residual would always be higher for those customers considering a Ford Red Carpet Lease. The other mistake was not announcing the Hybrid Titanium model with the release of the initial 2013 Fusion Order Guide.

There is a Retail Order Verification Program in place for all 2013 Fusion retail orders requiring dealers to submit a signed buyer's order and driver's license to Ford. Upon verification, Ford will expedite the retail order scheduling regardless of a dealer's available allocation. Retail scheduling did not start until the shipping release was issued about 3 weeks ago. The dealer was at fault in either not being aware of the 2013 Fusion retail order process or not notifying you of it and having the appropriate documents to submit to Ford. It has been Ford's standard policy for several years now to limit intial order scheduling to dealer stock orders in ordeer to make sure that retail orders are built to the required quality standard. Thank you for purchasing the all-new 2013 Ford Fusion! You may be disappointed and frustrated in the delays to get your new Fusion but the wait will be well worth it!

Just received our 1st 2013 Fusion at Bob Thomas Ford (CT) this morning... a 2013 Fusion S model in Ingot Silver which doesn't do the car justice. In person, the 2013 Fusion is very sleek and distinctive with an almost fastback look. And the trunk is enormous! This car is going to be an enormous sales success for Ford!!!

There are also 2013 Escape units being held the the ramps due to a new "Stop Ship" order issued by Ford on certain units. There is no information on what the shipping "hold" is about. My dealership's 2013 Escape affected by this "hold" was built nearly 8 weeks ago... shipped and sent all the way to a rail internediate/junction point before the ramp, then sent all the way back to St. Louis and then shipped back to the ramp in Rhode Island which has been told not to deliver the vehicle to our store. Somewhere along the line another quality issue must have been discovered that requires additional attention, etc. Naturally, the unit being held at the ramp was sold weeks ago!

Retail orders (Order Type "1") are order placed for a specific customer. A/X/Z Plan type orders are just another type of retail order for specific customers that qualify for A/X/Z purchase plans. Dealers orders are placed as stock (Order Type "2") ar "Demo" (Order Type "B"). Retail orders are given priority for scheduling ahead of other order types based on any commodity restrictions in place for a scheduling week.

There are still 2012 Mustang GT's available depending on how flexible you are on model trim, color and options. Availability of 2012 GT's will depend on the market you're in. In my area there is currently a $3,000 rebate available on 2012 Mustang GT's. The rebate on 2013 Mustang GT's is $1,000. X Plan pricing is only about $150 over invoice and most dealers won't discount X Plan purchases further.

Updated 2013 Fusion Order Guide 2013 Fusion Order Guide.pdf

The 2010 Mustangs have the sequential tail lights also.

Attached is the 2013 F-150 Order Guide which was released to dealers today. The order guide is up from 27 pages for the 2012 Model Year to 38 pages for the 2013 Model Year but the good news is that the ordering process has finally been simplified! It's still involved but MUCH better than it's been for many years! 2013 F-150 Order Guide.pdf