Update on Mach-E launch progress from engineering friends in Mexico

[trutolife27]

I agree any vehicle can have problems,
Any vehicle can have problems. I agree all day long on that. But with tesla your buying a car that at least with other manufacturers there is a chance they found the problems for you.

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[SnBGC]

In the pictures that @trutolife27 posted the top cars don't seem to have front licence plate holders attached whereas the bottom one does. Question for those in US. Are there some states that don't have to have front licence plates and some that do or is the bottom Grabber Blue car for the EUR market?

Yes. Some states require front plates where others do not. Arizona does not.
For U.S. buyers in a state with the requirement then they will need the Equipment Group Option 153 which is available for no charge.

 

[dbsb3233]

Usually if your dealer puts in a order for a certain vehicle to be made. It takes about 8 weeks from that point tell it arrives at your dealer.

I remember finding a link a few months ago about order-to-delivery (OTD) times, and for the last year of Fiesta production at that Cuautitlan plant, it averaged 59 days (~8 weeks as you said).

But that doesn't really apply here because orders will be collecting for months waiting for MME production to start. The part that matters here is the built-to-delivery half of that. Someone (might have been you) posted they expected that should average around 3 weeks once the car is built, IIRC.

 

[trutolife27]

I remember finding a link a few months ago about order-to-delivery (OTD) times, and for the last year of Fiesta production at that Cuautitlan plant, it averaged 59 days (~8 weeks as you said).

But that doesn't really apply here because orders will be collecting for months waiting for MME production to start. The part that matters here is the built-to-delivery half of that. Someone (might have been you) posted they expected that should average around 3 weeks once the car is built, IIRC.

Time table from the day your vin is built to its at your dealer suppose to be three to four weeks. Depended on weather, and scheduling, and transportation. Yes that is what he sent me from before.

Some cars are going to be built just waiting to be shipped the first ones waiting for the ok. So it will be a shorter time. I'm counting the ones that are built just waiting. Sorry should of cleared that up. The 8 weeks is a plant already making a vehicle. You call and ask for a special order from dealer. The dealer couldn't find what you wanted in the inventory so they will have it built. Takes longer.

So if everything does go right and November 23rd is good to go. Those cars are good to ship. Yes one closer will get it sooner then the dealership in Maine or over seas. If those cars only take 4 weeks or say even 3 weeks. What are we looking at now? Second or third week of December.

I don't want to step on anyone's toes or upset them just rather pass the real time info. Then my dealer says this or I heard this. Demo cars are being made now. But they are not even making 30 a day yet.

I know everyone is jumpy, and waiting. The demand for the Mach-e is triple what ford thought it would be ( which is a great problem to have). I hope all of you have the patience to hang in there and give ford and fords workers a chance to earn your business.

Covid -19 hurt everything in the manufacturing side of things. But did you know that out of all the vehicle manufacturing ford rebounded the fasted and with the least amount of profit lost.

Hang in there everyone. All of us workers at ford wanna make you proud to drive a ford, as much as we are proud and thank you for buying one.

The wait just might make us all appreciate it that much more.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I know everyone is jumpy, and waiting. The demand for the Mach-e is triple what ford thought it would be ( which is a great problem to have). I hope all of you have the patience to hang in there and give ford and fords workers a chance to earn your business.

Covid -19 hurt everything in the manufacturing side of things. But did you know that out of all the vehicle manufacturing ford rebounded the fasted and with the least amount of profit lost.

Hang in there everyone. All of us workers at ford wanna make you proud to drive a ford, as much as we are proud and thank you for buying one.

All of this is true. Nobody expected an extremely communicable coronavirus pandemic. And I always feel like the Mony Python sketch every time I say that ...

But back on point, I think most everyone knows that a 3-month complete shutdown threw more than a monkey wrench in the Ford MME plans. If all they had done was pick up where they left off, they'd get kudos. But they've made up a lot of lost ground and that's beyond expectations

But despite that, I think for a fair number of buyers there will come a point where delays, while understandable, will be beyond an individual's acceptable level. I know where that point is for me -- I know exactly when I'll cancel my order. At that point, I'll walk away and just keep driving my 2006 Tacoma. Most of us don't need an MME. And therein lies the crux of the problem for Ford. Ford can't actually win this race, but they can lose it.

 

[OdellBretthamJr]

The issue lies with Ford and their lack of communication, if they were more transparent about delivery dates then people would accept that but having to rely on message boards for info is rough. Being able to call your local dealership and request info is a futile effort as they know as much as us.

 

[jhalkias]

The issue lies with Ford and their lack of communication, if they were more transparent about delivery dates then people would accept that but having to rely on message boards for info is rough. Being able to call your local dealership and request info is a futile effort as they know as much as us.

I would argue LESS.

 

[hybrid2bev]

So if everything does go right and November 23rd is good to go. Those cars are good to ship. Yes one closer will get it sooner then the dealership in Maine or over seas. If those cars only take 4 weeks or say even 3 weeks. What are we looking at now? Second or third week of December.

My understanding of the OK to buy date of Nov 23rd is that when it was OK for the customer to take delivery, not the OK date to ship the units from the factory. The vehicles could arrive at the dealer just prior to 11/23 but the dealer could not let the customer take delivery until the OK to buy is given.

Why give the OK to buy and then wait a few weeks for the units to ship to the dealer? That does not make sense to me. I'm anticipating customer deliveries starting in the last week of November, so I can get my Premium before the end of December. We'll find out in the next few months when Ford starts giving us our order to delivery process status email updates. Can't wait!! So amped!!

 

[jhalkias]

My understanding of the OK to buy date of Nov 23rd is that when it was OK for the customer to take delivery, not the OK date to ship the units from the factory. The vehicles could arrive at the dealer just prior to 11/23 but the dealer could not let the customer take delivery until the OK to buy is given.

Why give the OK to buy and then wait a few weeks for the units to ship to the dealer? That does not make sense to me. I'm anticipating customer deliveries starting in the last week of November, so I can get my Premium before the end of December. We'll find out in the next few months when Ford starts giving us our order to delivery process status email updates. Can't wait!! So amped!!

I'm really hoping for a Black Friday driving my new FE Mach E!

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I know a lot about flying airliners over vast stretches of ocean with everything from cattle to highly flammable substances on board.

What I know about the automobile assembly and delivery process is what has been explained here. For that reason I have zero expectations about when my MME will arrive. But I know when “too late” is.

 

[portlandg]

I know a lot about flying airliners over vast stretches of ocean with everything from cattle to highly flammable substances on board.

What I know about the automobile assembly and delivery process is what has been explained here. For that reason I have zero expectations about when my MME will arrive. But I know when “too late” is.

Although not connected in any way with the automotive industry I think I have an idea of how it all works. I have had 6 brand new factory ordered cars over the years and with the help of my dealer and a bit of investigative work I have been able to track my cars from being assigned a VIN to scheduled to build, in production, gate released, shipped, delivered. I have even manged to find out what ship my car was loaded onto, its route and eta in the UK. The reason for all this, once a VIN has been assigned and you have got a scheduled to build date you should get a vague idea of when you might see your car. You should then know if it's "too late"

 

[timbop]

The issue lies with Ford and their lack of communication, if they were more transparent about delivery dates then people would accept that but having to rely on message boards for info is rough. Being able to call your local dealership and request info is a futile effort as they know as much as us.

ABSOLUTELY AGREE that official communication has been horrendous. Without the insiders on this forum, I probably would have walked away a while ago. For me it is less about delivery info (which they can't control) but about other information they can. The whole "mach drop" fiasco is a case in point: they had months to figure out and communicate how to reallocate the cancelled first edition reservations, and announced a derby via a tweet. They didn't bother to send emails to blocks of early reservation holders or put it on their website ahead of time to get the word out equitably to those who jumped in early. Based on experiences posted here, they also inadequately prepared the call center or dealers as to the process.

The only "info" I've gotten through the "keep me informed" emails is rehashed vague statements that give no more information than what was posted on their website back in November. In fact, all the "updates" do is point me back to the website. The sync 4a "updates" showed that there are some startup graphics and mode-specific graphics on the dash. After 10 months I was hoping for more useful detail: things like the charging cost at EA or the post-introductory cost for 4G service. Maybe a demo of how you would use the nav app to plan a trip and then locate available chargers along the way. Show me how easy it is to add a waypoint for a food break along my route. Demonstrate how wonderful it is instead of telling me.

Ford marketing is letting the rest of the team down.

 

[dbsb3233]

My understanding of the OK to buy date of Nov 23rd is that when it was OK for the customer to take delivery, not the OK date to ship the units from the factory. The vehicles could arrive at the dealer just prior to 11/23 but the dealer could not let the customer take delivery until the OK to buy is given.

Or at least already be somewhere in transit. Yes, that same question popped up in my mind reading that. It would mean a month of finished vehicles sitting in the lots at the plant all waiting for ok to buy, then a mad rush to ship thousands. (Assuming Oct 26 is still the customer unit production start.)

 

[dbsb3233]

Ford marketing is letting the rest of the team down.

Agreed. And frankly, all of that is the type of work that could easily be done from home during COVID. If anything, that should have made customer communications even better as workers still getting paid to stay home couldn't do in-office stuff and would have more time for this type of thing. Or so I would think.

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