ice-capades

The first rule isalways to sell from stock but it's hard to sell what you don't have as most customers want to see, feel and drive a vehicle before buying. Our store has had exactly ONE 2011 Explorer in stock which was sold and delivered within 48 hours of arrival in early January. Every other 2011 Explorer that has arrived since then has been a retail order placed for a customer. It won't be until early to mid-June when 6 vehicle stock orders finally arrive, after having gotten all our retail orders filled, that we'll have Explorers available from dealer stock. I'm always disappointed when I hear a story about a Ford Dealer misleading or not being truthful with a customer. There's nothing more important than one's credibility. You may have to tell a customer what they don't want to hear but being honest and straight-forward has tremendous benefits long term in terms of building long term relationships. Those that choose to mislead or outright lie to people are easily found out when they get caught in the web of lies that are usually created when trying to cover their tracks. Find a Dealer that is honest and straight-forward and you'll probably find one that's also very successful. It's hard to believe that there was only one person at the dealership you visited that could price out the vehicle with the specifications you wanted. Even if it's a very small store it would still be surprising that there wasn't someone else capable oh handling the CONCEPS ordering program. We have several managers at our store that are capable of pricing out vehicles, along with several sales representatives, and even so I get calls from the store when I'm out of the office for assistance. Sometimes it's a question about compatability issues or at this time of the year questions about "balance out" issues. In any event, our job as a team is to sell customer satisfaction , and I take those calls regularly in order to assist the Dealership staff when I'm out of the office but more importantly to serve the customer's needs. Hope that these comments are a help!

Ford is in the process of scheduling the final 2011 Explorer orders now with the cut off date for fleet orders being 04/22/2011. The 2012 Explorer Order Bank was scheduled to open on 05/08/2011 but the 2012 Explorer Order Guide has not yet been released to Dealers. 2012 Explorer scheduling is set to start on 06/16/2011 with a Job #1 Date being 07/18/2011.

An updated DORA (Dealer Order Receipt Acknowledgement) will not give you the information you're looking for. What you want is a detailed copy of the Vehicle Visibility Report which will show you the entire history on the vehicle order and most recent order status.

Availability of new models depends on the production schedule at Job #1. Ford Dealers were notified within the past few days that due to supplier issues in Japan that the 2012 Fusion Sport will not be available for the June-July period and that the 2012 Fusion Hybrid will not be available though October production.

Any time a Dealer enters a vehicle order via the CONCEPS online ordering system, the order is either accepted or an error notice is displayed detailing any order errors, restrictions, commodity issues, etc. The paint availability issues related to the situation in Japan have been restricted to Tuxedo Black Metallic and several red paints on a number of Ford vehicles. Ford has been sending paint availability updates to Dealers on a regular basis so that Dealers know what paints are at risk of not being scheduled. In many cases, the paints in question have been restricted to retail orders in order to give priority to customer orders while the colors in question are still available. Our Dealership has not had a 2011 Explorer available in stock since the very first vehicle arrived which was sold and delivered within 48 hours. Since then, every 2011 Explorer received was a retail order placed for a specific customer. Most retail orders have been received within 6 weeks and only a few older orders were received late due to shipping delays. I hope that this helps answer any questions that either the original poster or others may have had.

I expect that there will be a lot of government and law enforcement agencies that will try to order 2011 Crown Victoria PI units soon and find themselves very disappointed. In the meantime, Ford has just published a 2013 Police Interceptor booklet, available to Dealers via the Ford eStore, to provide Dealers with information on the upcoming all-new Police Interceptor vehicles.

In very general terms... Bucked = In Production Produced = Built but not yet released for shipping Released = Released for shipping LX1234556 = Rail Car Number, Etc Other status notices will or may include intermediate stops on the way to the final rail destination. At the final rail destination A/K/A RAMP, the vehicle will be off-loaded from the rail car, parked in the Ramp lot and then loaded onto a carrier for delivery to the Dealership. There may be delays during the process including equipment delays and problems (rail and/or car carriers) that may be listed in Ford's Vehicle Visibility reports available to Dealers that can change a vehicle's ETA at the final destination.

The very first 2011 Explorer our dealership received was ordered for stock and lasted about 48 hours before it was sold and delivered. That was in January and since then we've had not a single 2011 Explorer as every new unit received was a retail/factory order for a customer. Fortunately for the Dealership and its customer base, we've finally gotten caught up on getting retail orders scheduled and now have 6 stock orders scheduled that should arrive by late this month or early June.

The Edge has been a great addition to the Ford line-up and is a strong seller at my Dealership. Overall, the Ford Flex has more than a major disappointment as we sell maybe 6 per model year while Ford's production totals omly around 20,000 units. Our Ford Zone Manager tells me that Ford is committed to producing the Flex through the 2019 Model Year!

The all-new 2013 Escape/Kuga/Vertrek series can't arrive soon enough as far as I'm concerned. As popular as the Escape is, the design is now very dated and long overdue for a major overhaul.

I'd suggest asking your dealer for a copy of the "Vehicle Visibility" report which will show you the complete order history and the most recent update on the vehicle's location.

Old style "Rally" stripes? Have you talked to your local Ford Dealer about them?

I'm always frustrated when I read messages like this from customers that have placed factory orders for their vehicles and then can't get accurate update information from their dealers. I've wriiten a lot of messages posted here regarding the ordering and scheduling process. Do you have a VIN #? If so, your vehicle is scheduled and your Dealer should be able to give you the latest information available as to production and the expected ETA at the Dealership. If there's no VIN # available then your vehicle has not been scheduled for production yet. Due to an excess of 2011MY Mustang inventory in stock around the country, there was no wholesale/allocation plan for May Mustang production. Our dealership got two 2012 Mustangs scheduled a few weeks ago that are already in production and have dealership ETA's for mid to late May. Hope this message helps.

Per the latest Ford Dealer News Bulletins your information is correct. The order guides are usually released to dealers on or about the date that the new model year ourder bank opens.

Interesting thread discussion. The Mustang is obviously an American icon and one that needs to appeal primarily to the American market. Even so, I have trouble believing that a next generation Mustang can't be exported to Europe and other international markets. I expect that the next generation Mustang will bring the model up to the front again with a more contemporary design, while preserving the Mustang heritage, and include more advanced powertrains that will enable the Mustang to effectively deal with upcoming U.S. CAFE requirements. I also expect that the next generation Mustang will still include a V8 based GT series but that it will be a much smaller content of production and priced accordingly due to CAFE regulations. If one looks back about 20+ years, CAFE requirements had a major impact on production of Mustang GT's, Crown Victoria's, etc. Ford knew then exactly how many Ford Escorts they had to build in order to build a Mustang GT, Crown Victoria or similar models and still meet the CAFE requirements. We used to be able to count on one hand the number of Mustang GT's we'd be able to get in a model year because of the CAFE requirements and the impact on Ford model production. I fully expect that we're going to go back to a similar cycle as the more strict CAFE requirements come into play. To Ford's benefit, Alan Mulally has planned Ford's future production to include a greater mix of cars anticipating higher gas prices. This can certainly help Mustang plans though the next generation's sales/production cycle. Just my random thought on this thread topic.

Agreed... Terrible article and poorly researched. Ford hasn't even published the Taurus Police Interceptor Order Guide so there are no vehicles ordered yet, let alone produced for delivery to anyone. Crown Victoria PI production doesn't end until August so it wouldn't be a stretch to think that they'd end up introducing the new Taurus PI as a 2013 MY vehicle. It's also not a stretch to realize that a lot of police departments are going to be disappointed when the realize that they can no longer order the Crown Victoria PI. In addition, most government agencies operate on a fiscal budget year which makes a difference as to when they place vehicle orders, especially police units.

If I remember correctly, the next Fusion generation will be introduced for the 2013 Model Year and finally be based on the next generation Mondeo at which point the Fusion/Mondeo will be Ford's next global platform/model line.

Yes... A "Locked In" status means that the vehicle is locked in for production and no changes to the order can be made.

I'd expect that the Ford-Lincoln store is the most secure for survival considering the Ford Division sales they have along with the fact that Ford wants dual Ford-Lincoln dealers. Excuse me if I'm stating what many of us consider this obvious.

The Final Order date for the 2011MY Taurus is now listed as 05/06/2011 with the 2012MY Order Bank to open on 05/18/2011 with 2012MY Taurus scheduling to start on 06/16/2011 and Job #1 on 07/18/2011. The 2012 Taurus Order Guide will be released on or about May 18th. As for paint issues, below is a copy of the most recent notice included in this past week's Commodity & Constraints Letter that is issued weekly. TAURUS – SIMS - Commodities will vary by dealer On April 14 – Scheduling Unscheduled Allocation in Week 15 Paint Update At this time estimates show all paints including Tuxedo Black (UH), Bordeaux Reserve Red (FQ) & Red Candy (U6) are available for April 14 Scheduling. However, Red Candy (U6) may become exhausted during April 14 Scheduling.

Commodity issues and the fact that the most recent reports show a 116 day supply of Mustang's, mostly 2011's. The rail car shortage has existed for some time now.

Attached is a copy of the 2012 Escape Order Guide. It appears that everything is carryover except for Toreador Red Metallic replacing Sangria Red Metallic. 04/13/2011 - 2012MY Order Bank Opens 05/12/2011 - 2012MY Scheduling Begins 06/13/2011 - 2012MY Job #1 Date 2012 Escape Order Guide.pdf

With the continuing problems in Japan, especially affecting the availability of paint pigments used by Ford for the Mustang, just maybe Ford will consider reinstating the Sterling Gray Metallic. Let's hope so as its been such a popular color choice for so many customers.

Although the Mustang has recently been on a 5-year renew cycle, I'd expect the next generation to debut as a 2014 MY for the 50th anniversary. The "Pony Wars" have heated up recently with the new Camaro outselling the Mustang, no doubt in good part due to pent up demand, so I doubt that Ford will put off introducing the next generation Mustang any longer than necessary.

I could be mistaken but my understanding is that the Focus ST is planned for production at the Wayne Assembly Plant which is being retooled as the 2nd plant for Fucus production. I'd expect production at the plant to start no later than next January with the model mix to be at least partially determined by demand in reference to gas prices at the time. From what we're seeing so far, Mullaly's plan for more fuel efficient car production is right on track with changes we're seeing in the Market!