Between the chip shortage, plant shutdowns, and pandemic-related delays, Ford Bronco buyers have been waiting (and waiting, and waiting some more) for their vehicles. The reborn Bronco was announced last July and production finally started this year, to the absolute delight of the 125,000 reservation holders who plunked their money down for the privilege of owning the first batch rolling out of Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant.
If you listen carefully, you’ll hear the shouts of happiness as a result of the initial deliveries, which started this week. As seen on fan forum Bronco6G.com, a few Bronco fans are announcing the arrival of their new SUVs and the rest of them are salivating as they await their turns.
Bronco6G forum poster SirBenimen announced that he received the coveted text from his salesperson at Fox Grand Traverse Ford on Tuesday with the message that his Bronco was ready for pickup. The next day, he and his wife drove away with their Badlands-trim four-door Bronco in Rapid Red with the towing and Sasquatch packages and they parked it in their garage briefly before taking it off-roading.
Another buyer in Wisconsin expected his First Edition Bronco to arrive in July. He received a nice surprise yesterday and posted that he was the first in Wisconsin to take delivery, his Cactus Gray 4×4 with Black Onyx interior now starring on the Middleton Motorsports YouTube channel.
While this may all sound like stellar news for buyers who have been waiting patiently and not-so-patiently for their Broncos, there are still hurdles delaying delivery. As we reported a few days ago, Ford received a high number of orders for models equipped with the max tow and Sasquatch packages, meaning extra time in production. Ford Chief Program Engineer Eric Loeffler told me this week during a media event, “If someone is buying a Bronco, they’re ordering it loaded.” Now the Blue Oval has the good news/bad news experience of figuring out how to prioritize the orders.
Ford employees are working overtime to get these hot vehicles out the door, and it appears that not even flooding can keep the Bronco train down for long; the same fan forum reported that a flood from heavy rains stopped production for only an hour last night. According to the poster on Bronco6G, there were no major impacts to the plant or vehicles already produced. Since the Bronco can ford up to 33.5 inches of water, they can presumably drive the SUVs right out of there, dry them off, and they’re ready to go.
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