Insane Bronco Demand Forces Ford To Make A Tough Choice

Ford bragged earlier this year about itsonline reservation systemfor new products like the2021 Ford Bronco, Mustang Mach-E, and F-150 Lightning. First-time Ford buyers areflocking to the Blue Oval,putting down pre-orders so they can be the first on their block to park one of these exciting vehicles in their driveway. This sounds like outstanding news for Ford, but in this case, too much success is proving difficult to manage. The Detroit Free Press reports that Ford is stillfacing production issues and delayswith the new Bronco, and must pause customer reservations.

Freep obtained a memo from Ford entitled "special announcement," alerting dealerships that the reservation system for Bronco was on-pause. "Based on Dealer Council feedback, effective Monday, August 23rd, Ford has paused the creation of new reservations for Bronco vehicles. The decision to pause reservations is due to the high number of Bronco 2 and 4-door model orders and current commodity constraints," the memo reads. Dealers were advised to remove any mention of reservations from their websites and advertising.

Rather than use an online reservation system, customers interested in purchasing a new Bronco will have to do it the old-fashioned way: finding one at a local dealership and haggling for a price that isn'toutrageously marked up. This may prove difficult, as some dealers have added "market adjustments" to their inventory, sometimes over $20,000 above MSRP.

"Customers are encouraged to work directly with their dealer who can help with the ordering process, delivery timing expectations, and build specifications," the memo reads on. "For example, dealers can best guide if a customer may be able to get a stock vehicle that's already built or scheduled. Due to the high number of orders, delivery of Bronco vehicles placed today will extend through (the) 2022 calendar year."

Ford says customers who have not yet ordered a Bronco can do so through their dealership or convert an existing reservation into an order. However, ordering a Bronco earlier may not help it arrive any quicker. Customers can order any Bronco that's currently available on the build and price website, but supply chain issues may delay build times depending on the model. "As the system runs out of buildable orders because of commodity challenges, it will move down the list until it finds an order that is buildable," Ford said in the memo.

CarBuzz reached out to Ford directly for some clarification on this situation, and will report back with any new details. In the meantime, we wish you luck trying to nab a new Bronco without paying an exorbitant markup.