The new Ford Bronco is Ford’s biggest launch since the sixth-generation Explorer, which was bungled. Ford is eager not to repeat those mistakes, but also interesting will be to see how Ford’s reservation system will play out, after reservation money was also taken for the Mustang Mach-E.
The $100 reservation was intended to give Ford a sense of how much interest there was out there for the Bronco, which turned out to be roughly what was expected, or even a little more, with Ford saying in August that they had banked around 165,000 of them. For customers, the reservation was to get a place in line though Ford has also said that many customers won’t be getting their Broncos until 2022 after the first deliveries early next year.
Reservations aren’t orders themselves; Ford said that dealers will eventually reach out to those with reservations and complete the order, which will include choosing options and verifying pricing. Reservations are also refundable, which means that part of the job will be on Ford and its dealers to actually complete the sale. Ford is confident that most will go through in the end.
From Automotive News:
Mark LaNeve, Ford’s vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service, told Automotive News he initially expects “over 75 percent” of the roughly 165,000 refundable deposits will be converted to sales, although that conversion rate is likely to fall for customers who have to wait longer for their Bronco. He said Ford will “definitely” be filling reservations into 2022.
Dealer allocation will depend on a retailer’s market size, previous SUV sales performance, the number of reservations tied to their store and competitive off-road registrations in their market, LaNeve said.
Also interesting is this tidbit:
LaNeve declined to say how many Bronco Sport reservations Ford has recorded, noting it was “a lot less than the two-door and four-door but still significant.” He said the Bronco Sport will go on sale about the same time as the redesigned F-150, which will hit showrooms in November.
I thought the Bronco Sport would have … a slightly better response than that I guess, but I’m sure the reservation number for it is still in the tens of thousands. The question for Ford now is how much interest remains in Bronco/Bronco Sport once the initial wave of enthusiasm cools off. How much of a Wrangler/Defender killer is the Bronco in the end?
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