Ford Bronco Buyers Sent Letter Explaining Delay, Offered $300 Toward Accessories For The Inconvenience

The 2021 Ford Bronco delay saga has another wrinkle to it. But none of this is surprising. We’ve known that the two-door and four-door Bronco was under further delay thanks to Covid-19 supply and production issues.

My colleague Marc Stern wrote an excellent piece about this. Just yesterday, those who had signed up for alerts or placed reservation orders received the following notification letter from the Ford Bronco communication team:

We know you are excited to get your new Ford Bronco™, and we are committed to delivering a high quality product as soon as we can.

As a result of the unprecedented effects of the COVID 19 pandemic on our suppliers, we have updated timing news to share with you.

While we originally communicated that your Ford Dealer would begin reaching out in December to schedule an order consultation and place your order, this process will now begin in mid January and extend through mid March. As a reminder, your order cannot be placed online; however, you are encouraged to spec your Bronco using the Ford.com Build & Price tool ahead of your dealer consultation and save a copy to help when you place your order.

Your reservation* timestamp, and not the date that you place your order with your dealer, will be used to determine when your Bronco gets produced. Other factors for final delivery timing include vehicle model and configuration selected, part constraints, and the number of Bronco vehicles your dealer will receive.

In May 2021, once we review all submitted orders and can forecast production, we will provide you with an estimated window of when you can expect to take delivery of your Bronco. Initial customer deliveries are now expected to begin in summer 2021. Given demand, we anticipate deliveries to continue through the 2022 calendar year, with some customers getting a 2022 model year Bronco.

As part of your upcoming owner experience, you will have the opportunity to participate in our FordPass™ Rewards loyalty program. At your time of delivery, you will earn 42,000 FordPass Rewards Points (over $200 value) to use toward maintenance, service, accessories and much more at your local Ford Dealer. As a thank you for your patience and interest in Bronco, we are adding an additional 20,000 FordPass Rewards Points when you take delivery of your Ford Bronco. That’s 62,000 FordPass Rewards Points (over $300 value) to use toward accessories, maintenance and service at your local Ford Dealer.** We will share more regarding FordPass Rewards and its benefits as you get closer to taking delivery of your Ford Bronco.

If you have any questions, please contact your Ford Dealer. You can also contact Ford Motor Company’s Marketing Program Headquarters at 800 334 4375 or view our FAQs here.

Sincerely,
The Ford Bronco Team

When Will The Ford Bronco Be Delivered?
Judging from this letter, we don’t have that answer. It seems like Job One, the time a build/order gets converted and sent to begin production, is now sometime in May or “summer.”

Summer technically begins June 23, so the ambiguous timeline remains. Expect the first two-door and four-door Broncos to begin rolling through the assembly line late spring or early summer which would put delivery of the first ones as early as June or July.

I’m sure it’s frustrating for the Ford dealerships to have to bare the brunt of the frustration, but honestly there’s little to nothing Ford could do to have improved this process. With the pandemic the much-anticipated reboot of the iconic Bronco has been delayed.

Even more frustrating is that the “time stamp” of those who placed pre-orders seems to have been wiped out. As the letter stated, that time stamp means little to nothing as delivery and build will depend on parts availability and what build options you placed versus what Ford can build. That is for sure going to rub some Bronco fans the wrong way, and frankly I can’t blame them for feeling like they get dismissed and pushed aside.

The Bronco process has been one big frustration after another it seems, but at least Ford is communicating with the Bronco fan base. I give them credit for that.

Will potential Bronco Buyers Turn To Something Else Instead?
Right now Bronco buyers have two choices: 1.) Stay patient 2.) Spend your money on something else now.

If you’re loyal to Ford, the intriguing option that could benefit from this Bronco delay is the recently-announced Ford F-150 Tremor. This off-road ready F-150 is new for the 2021 model year, which as you know (unless you’ve been living under a rock) begins its 14th-generation with arrivals this week.

So as the new F-150 is the focus of production and Ford dealers, the addition of the Tremor package brings appeal from the Bronco community. Will Bronco enthusiasts lose patience and just go the route of the Tremor? Or would they commit heresy by turning to a Jeep?

The Bronco is aimed directly at the popular Jeep brand. And for years, they’ve dominated that segment with very little competition. Will Jeep pounce on the Bronco delay with attractive incentives? If it were me making that call, that’s what I would do. But there are also the tried and true Blue Oval fans who would never consider jumping brands, much less to a Jeep.

Incentive to wait
As we saw in the letter, Ford is offering some incentive to those who remain patient through this delay.

As part of the FordPass Loyalty Rewards program, Bronco buyers will receive 42,000 points which translates to $200 worth of credit to be used toward maintenance, service, swag and accessories. For remaining patient they will through in 20,000 points when you take delivery of the Bronco.

So realistically for staying patient and seeing things through to completion, Bronco owners can get upwards of $300 to use to upgrade their Bronco. Some people on the outstanding forum Bronco6g.com mentioned they could use that toward the purchase of a soft top or a roof rack.

Kudos to Ford for offering up something to them for their patience. Lord knows Bronco fans have shown extreme patience having waited almost a decade for the launch of the sixth-generation Bronco and now waiting more than a year for production to begin.

I'd love to hear from Bronco enthusiasts. You've been through a lot with this newest generation Bronco. Is this the final straw or will you remain patient? Leave me a comment below with your thoughts.

Jimmy Dinsmore has been an automotive journalist for more than a decade and been a writer since the high school. His Driver’s Side column features new car reviews and runs in several newspapers throughout the country. He is also co-author of the book “Mustang by Design” and “Ford Trucks: A Unique Look at the Technical History of America’s Most Popular Truck”. Also, Jimmy works in the social media marketing world for a Canadian automotive training aid manufacturing company. Follow Jimmy on Facebook, Twitter, at his special Ford F-150 coverage on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can read the most of Jimmy's stories by searching Torque News Ford for daily Ford vehicle report.