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

[jhalkias]

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.

I wonder how much of that marketing is contracted out to a 3rd party? Or . . . how much of a disconnect there is between marketing and production people?
Ford seems to have made a good "teamwork" transition on the Mach E with Team Edison. I am thinking the Marketing people were left out of that equation or were not made integral.
Darren Palmer forwarded some emails and put me in touch with the person from "Global Marketing, Electrification" when I was trying to see if I could switch to a FE as I was hearing about orders being cancelled. She is the one that told me that no First Editions would be available unless you ordered one at the outset. Regardless, I kept emailing her, and after that first response telling me no, I never heard back again. Even after an email on the final "order date" for FE.

This is the response I got:

• Customers with reservations which convert to retail orders will take priority over non-reservation retail orders.
• First Edition is only available to those who reserved them and will be unavailable for order even if someone cancels

If you have any question, please feel free to contact us.

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[SnBGC]

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!!

My understanding "Ok to buy" is different. None of us are buying anything from Ford. The dealers buy the cars from Ford so the question is when does ownership transfer take place? According to Trutolife27's post. Ownership transfer occurs when the vehicles are loaded at the factory.

Of course. I hope your understanding is correct and my understanding is mis-guided.

 

[horsiedad]

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.

Ford should have treated this like a Kickstarter campaign with regular updates on development, manufacturing, testing, etc. I can only hope that their EV technology is a lot more advanced than their marketing.

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Ford should have treated this like a Kickstarter campaign with regular updates on development, manufacturing, testing, etc. I can only hope that their EV technology is a lot more advanced than their marketing.

While I agree with the idea presented, having been burned by crowdfunding before, presenting the idea that everyone is good about communications on such projects is a false idea. It varies widely depending on the project.

I do wish they communicated better. I honestly admit I don't understand why they aren't - the overall cost of communications would be low (even accounting for "lawyer approval") that it's kind of unfortunate we're where we are at this point.

 

[GregM]

Being in marketing and communications, I agree, they could be doing a lot better job- I mean, everybody that registered had to give an email address - they had a built in contact list just to directly push information to. And I believe content creation would be really easy here. Much easier than creating an easter egg hunt to find out how to up sell to a few leftover FEs...

 

[tex]

Being in marketing and communications, I agree, they could be doing a lot better job- I mean, everybody that registered had to give an email address - they had a built in contact list just to directly push information to. And I believe content creation would be really easy here. Much easier than creating an easter egg hunt to find out how to up sell to a few leftover FEs...

Ford risks loosing control of the narrative with their present communication (lack of) strategy. Overall it looks like they gave little thought to some key design elements as well thinking they weren't going to make that many of these cars. In EV they have to decide if they are in or out. With Riven or not. With VW or not.

 

[dbsb3233]

Ford risks loosing control of the narrative with their present communication (lack of) strategy. Overall it looks like they gave little thought to some key design elements as well thinking they weren't going to make that many of these cars. In EV they have to decide if they are in or out. With Riven or not. With VW or not.

Nothing wrong with easing into BEVs rather than "in or out" though. Most of the legacy automakers let Tesla be the "all in" while they were happy continuing to sell $billions worth of ICE, waiting for the batteries to improve enough (capability and cost) for them to dip their toe in the pool and gradually start making some BEVs. They know it's not an all-or-nothing gig. It'll be a gradual shift.

 

[Shayne]

Any dealer telling people they will have a premium on their lot for sale before thanksgiving. I call them out on that I trust my sources way more and know better. Sorry but that is the truth.
Can some premium make it before end of December oh yes. How many we don't know yet but the faster the line gets going the better estimate my friend will be able to give me.

My dealer told us November, December for sure about a month ago. He was pretty firm on that when I call him out about next spring. Not costing much to sit and wait, just happy with your info noting there is progress. Here is hoping that world conditions will allow that progress to continue and all at the Mexico Plant stay safe. And for pete's sake; work faster ;0) and start shipping ..... joke.

On the side it appears to me that Ford is making the mach-e for an in your face vehicle and not for major profit. Have a feeling she will be a solid luxury SUV for a good price (no duct tape included). We all need to be patient and wait for them to over come current obstacles that have been thrown in their path lately. Their 1400 hp ME shows you that you can build an EV that has so much power it just sits there and burns off the tires and then sparks off the wheels. 4 motors (one each wheel) is where it is going. 7 ridiculous. 2 current tech.

 

[zhackwyatt]

Nothing wrong with easing into BEVs rather than "in or out" though. Most of the legacy automakers let Tesla be the "all in" while they were happy continuing to sell $billions worth of ICE, waiting for the batteries to improve enough (capability and cost) for them to dip their toe in the pool and gradually start making some BEVs. They know it's not an all-or-nothing gig. It'll be a gradual shift.

Agree. They are bring 3 BEVs to market. Mach-E, Transit Electric Van, and F-150 Electric. Maybe more that I'm not aware of.

 

[trutolife27]

Agree. They are bring 3 BEVs to market. Mach-E, Transit Electric Van, and F-150 Electric. Maybe more that I'm not aware of.

Ford is planning to bring 10 full Ev to the market by 2024. They are already getting the F-150 ready.
Ford is spending more and risking more in the Ev market. Other manufacturers Chrysler and general motors are further behind. So your order gets delayed by 1 month or 2. Can;t wait ok, but how many others things we take for granted for in life we was not able to buy during this

Give a company a chance. I guess people threaten the toilet paper makers when there was no toilet paper on the shelf. Adapt, overcome, patience,

https://www.autonews.com/future-product/ford-gearing-f-150-plant-overhauls

 

[SnBGC]

Ford is planning to bring 10 full Ev to the market by 2024. They are already getting the F-150 ready.
Ford is spending more and risking more in the Ev market. Other manufacturers Chrysler and general motors are further behind. So your order gets delayed by 1 month or 2. Can;t wait ok, but how many others things we take for granted for in life we was not able to buy during this

Give a company a chance. I guess people were threaten the toilet paper makers when there was no toilet paper on the shelf. Adapt, overcome, patience,

https://www.autonews.com/future-product/ford-gearing-f-150-plant-overhauls

I couldn't agree more. The more I learn about this car the more appreciation I have for the monumental effort and thought being put into this product. The facts are that Ford could have (and arguably should have) cut corners and rushed this to market but they aren't doing that. Everything I see so far points to a very talented group of engineers, designers, program managers, craftsman, visionaries and enthusiasts who are working on this project and are shooting for the top step.

This car is a big deal. Ford knows it. We know it. Why else would we wait this long? It feels worth the wait to me. I looked at the other offerings out there and still am here. Yes, I have high expectations but I don't think Ford is going to disappoint me on this. Very much looking forward to seeing these on the streets and watching jaws drop.

My ONLY tiny concern.....is the exterior size. I think most people are going to think it's too small. It is easy to forget these things don't have engines, transmissions, exhaust systems and fuel tanks so all that extra space can be reallocated to passenger compartment space. In some ways a BEV is like a TARDIS....bigger on the inside.

 

[macchiaz-o]

My ONLY tiny concern.....is the exterior size. I think most people are going to think it's too small. It is easy to forget these things don't have engines, transmissions, exhaust systems and fuel tanks so all that extra space can be reallocated to passenger compartment space. In some ways a BEV is like a TARDIS....bigger on the inside.

I agree with everything you said in your post. For ME, though, I'm hoping this car isn't too BIG (on the outside). I'm sure it'll be fine, but I've gotten so used to parking my tiny Fiesta hatchback!

 

[RonTCat]

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.

If you are taking delivery in Hawaii, you will wait a little longer than most. Your car will almost certainly travel by ship, and that is not the speediest method.

If Job 1 is just before Halloween, then a realistic OK To Buy might be Thanksgiving. The plant will not release any customer vehicle until OKTB. When OKTB is declared, every vehicle made will ship from the plant within days. Freight out of Mexico is not exactly fast, you are at the whim of Customs, but many people should get their cars in December. I would say Hawaii might be January, unless you get favorable timing on an outbound ship or someone at Ford REALLY likes you.

VIN assignment can be as much 6 weeks before the car is physically produced. So if you get a VIN from your dealer by early October, your car will likely be in the first batch shipped from the plant.

 

[KAustin]

I agree with everything you said in your post. For ME, though, I'm hoping this car isn't too BIG (on the outside). I'm sure it'll be fine, but I've gotten so used to parking my tiny Fiesta hatchback!

You can use the self park feature. If I recall correctly, it's shorter than a traditional Mustang. So, not that big.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

If you are taking delivery in Hawaii, you will wait a little longer than most. Your car will almost certainly travel by ship, and that is not the speediest method.

If Job 1 is just before Halloween, then a realistic OK To Buy might be Thanksgiving. The plant will not release any customer vehicle until OKTB. When OKTB is declared, every vehicle made will ship from the plant within days. Freight out of Mexico is not exactly fast, you are at the whim of Customs, but many people should get their cars in December. I would say Hawaii might be January, unless you get favorable timing on an outbound ship or someone at Ford REALLY likes you.

VIN assignment can be as much 6 weeks before the car is physically produced. So if you get a VIN from your dealer by early October, your car will likely be in the first batch shipped from the plant.

Yup.

Depending upon who Ford contracts with, the cars could go to Long Beach, San Diego or even Oakland. Then they go via the near boatload (ro/ro) to Honolulu. Then they wait. And Wait. And wait. Finally, they get on one of the Young Brother's barges and head to Maui, Kauai, or Hawaii Island (me). On Hawaii island, they arrive at Hilo Harbor unless your car is a Tesla, but I digress. Then they're driven to the dealers, either in Hilo or 95 miles away in Kailua Kona.

Assuming the vehicle makes the cut off I've established (it's got a long way to go before that's a real factor), I'll pick it up at the Hilo dealer rather than their Kona shop (same dealer). Less wear and tear on my car. Personal shipping of an auto takes about one month from the time you drop off till it's ready for pickup in Hilo. But that's a lower priority than commercial shipments.

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