Biker16 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 17,800 cars in inventory, at the lowered sales rate in august that is 33 days of inventory which sounds better than it really is. This compares to the fusion with 34,000 and 51 days of inventory, and the Escape at 35,000 and 44 days. if the Focus were selling at the 20,000 per month sales rate it had in may and June the days supply on hand would be closer to 16-17 days. After 5 weeks of consistent production 5200-5400 per week they have dropped to 4600 last week due to labor day. It seems Ford is only capable of producing 5200 per week and that is with the heavy use of overtime, and when inventory level build build back up, the potential sales rate will quickly erode that inventory. i expect and annoucement soon after the UAW talks have ended. it better than it was but still not good enough to gain the sales momentum this car could and should have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 (edited) Disappointing. A friend of mine is looking to bite on a new Focus as soon as they get some decent incentives on them. Not going to happen with current inventory levels. Suppose I could try getting an X-plan PIN for him perhaps? Edited September 12, 2011 by NickF1011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker16 Posted September 12, 2011 Author Share Posted September 12, 2011 Disappointing. A friend of mine is looking to bite on a new Focus as soon as they get some decent incentives on them. Not going to happen with current inventory levels. Suppose I could try getting an X-plan PIN for him perhaps? we don't want incentives on it t this point. X-plan pin are offered in the Employee section. the US demand for this car should be between 17-20k per month, this does not include Canadian demand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 we don't want incentives on it t this point. X-plan pin are offered in the Employee section. the US demand for this car should be between 17-20k per month, this does not include Canadian demand. Ford doesn't want incentives on it, but buyers do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Ford doesn't want incentives on it, but buyers do. It appears that there are production "problems", but IMHO, this also reflects a fundamental change in Ford's on-going business plan. It appears that Ford will accept fewer sales to avoid the acres of year-end unsold product. I also wonder if this encourages more customers to order specifically what they want, instead of buying some bulk-ordered car with some money on the hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carson Lomax Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 We ordered out 2012 Focus almost three weeks ago and it has yet to be assigned a VIN. I think the problems getting parts from Japan for Nav units is going to wind up hurting customer ordered units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker16 Posted September 12, 2011 Author Share Posted September 12, 2011 We ordered out 2012 Focus almost three weeks ago and it has yet to be assigned a VIN. I think the problems getting parts from Japan for Nav units is going to wind up hurting customer ordered units. it should take at least 3 weeks to receive a VIN. I order mine 3 weeks ago too. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carson Lomax Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 it should take at least 3 weeks to receive a VIN. I order mine 3 weeks ago too. Really? I thought when I ordered my SHO I had my VIN within a week. It was the time from build complete to receiving at the dealer that took forever (about a month). How is your Focus configured? Ours is a Kona Blue Titanium sedan, pretty much everything except the handling package, moonroof, and park assist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Really? I thought when I ordered my SHO I had my VIN within a week. It was the time from build complete to receiving at the dealer that took forever (about a month) Depends on the demand, when the dealer put in the order, etc... I ordered a 1998 Mustang GT when I got out of the Army. I put the order in 2nd week of September and had the car by the end of October, and that was getting a favor done between two people who worked at Edison Assembly and Dearborn. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMSA-XJR9 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Really? I thought when I ordered my SHO I had my VIN within a week. It was the time from build complete to receiving at the dealer that took forever (about a month). How is your Focus configured? Ours is a Kona Blue Titanium sedan, pretty much everything except the handling package, moonroof, and park assist. I think it took 2-3 weeks to obtain my VIN#, and I'm 6-7 weeks into the process. My Titanium 5-Door should arrive within the next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 We ordered out 2012 Focus almost three weeks ago and it has yet to be assigned a VIN. I think the problems getting parts from Japan for Nav units is going to wind up hurting customer ordered units. I ordered mine in mid-June and it was delivered almost precisely two months later. A great car too, I really love this thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I ordered mine in mid-June and it was delivered almost precisely two months later. A great car too, I really love this thing. Ours took exactly 5 weeks. Ordered May 31st. Base SEL Hatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 (edited) Ford doesn't want incentives on it, but buyers do. It seems like they should be able to find a better balance between supply and demand than 15 days (relative to a vague memory of its recent peak monthly sales, anyway) of inventory, though. Edited September 13, 2011 by Noah Harbinger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PREMiERdrum Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 It seems like they should be able to find a better balance between supply and demand than 15 days (relative to a vague memory of its recent peak monthly sales, anyway) of inventory, though. Remember, production is just now getting back up to full speed after the dash supply issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GapBoyPCS Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I think I got caught in the hiccup of the dash supply and the shutdown in July. It took about 2 months before I got a VIN. My car has since been built, and it took a total of 12 weeks from order to arrival at the dealership. Within that time, I managed to score with the extended Canadian Employee Pricing (I originally had negotiated X-Plan pricing, but now I'm getting A-Plan), and a drop of interest rate (it was back to where it was when I signed the offer to purchase, but had skyrocketed when Employee Pricing took effect). I honestly don't see much more incentives coming unless things are just languishing on dealer lots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carson Lomax Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 I wouldn't buy one unless it had massive incentives. And why is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 I wouldn't buy one unless it had massive incentives. You'll love driving GM or Chrysler product, then. Just think of all the money you've saved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 if one needs rebates to buy a new car, then go get a used one. Car makers lost money with heavy rebates on dated products. They are not going to build tons of cars and put cash on hoods for low credit score buyers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BORG Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 I really hope Mullally is a ball-buster because I would be firing my supply guys right now for botching this so badly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker16 Posted September 15, 2011 Author Share Posted September 15, 2011 <br />I really hope Mullally is a ball-buster because I would be firing my supply guys right now for botching this so badly.<br /><br /><br /><br /> there is no supply issue right now. the plant is running Two shifts with extensive overtime, while GM has 3 shifts on the Cruze and Honda has 2 plants for the Civic. Demand is outstripping supply, plain and simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BORG Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 <br /><br /><br /> there is no supply issue right now. the plant is running Two shifts with extensive overtime, while GM has 3 shifts on the Cruze and Honda has 2 plants for the Civic. Demand is outstripping supply, plain and simple. No, that's not the issue here, Focus supply was disrupted due to supplier issues, the plant had to sit idle. That's why sales dropped so significantly month over month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carson Lomax Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 The word from Ford via my dealer is that our delay is solely based on the car having nav, otherwise it could be scheduled much sooner. As it is now the car will be built early October and should arrive the first week in November; we ordered the car August 16th. Also I mis-stated our color...we got Sonic blue. I guess there was a change up at the last minute regarding which dark blue would be available (Kona or Sonic). I think that was also caused by problems getting the paint pigments due to the tsunami. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 I really hope Mullally is a ball-buster because I would be firing my supply guys right now for botching this so badly. No offense, but an attitude like that discourages employees from sharing problems and resolving them before they get out of hand - it's exactly the kind of attitude that fosters an environment where these problems can occur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PREMiERdrum Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 No offense, but an attitude like that discourages employees from sharing problems and resolving them before they get out of hand - it's exactly the kind of attitude that fosters an environment where these problems can occur. Exactly. Plus, I'd hope there was more concern at the top towards the Focus' assembly quality issues rather than how quickly they can build them. I'll take 14,000 well-built units selling every month than 22,000 shoddily assembled ones. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BORG Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 No offense, but an attitude like that discourages employees from sharing problems and resolving them before they get out of hand - it's exactly the kind of attitude that fosters an environment where these problems can occur. This is a multi-billion dollar corporation with countless millions riding on the success of the Focus, it needs to be made clear that the people responsible for each cog in this wheel need to be brilliant and dedicated to everything they do, even if they have to live at the supplier factory and press the parts themselves. Ford has some massive weight behind it, they can use it as leverage to make or break these suppliers. Or Ford needs to sic more logistics people on this problem to iron out these vulnerabilities so they can prevent this from happening. Ford didn't need a natural disaster to bring everything to a halt at the Focus plant, that's just staggering to me. Workers don't need to live in fear for their jobs, but they need to fear how their failures impacts their peers and the co-wokers depending on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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