Demand for KC-made Ford F-150 surging, though hundreds of pickups are stockpiled here
The inventory in the parking lots belie the challenge facing Ford Motor Co.
Front and rear bumpers nearly kiss as hundreds of F-150s surround the Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo. Across U.S. 69, pickups of all colors and sizes fill more fenced-in lots. A few miles to the south, the F-150s even occupy asphalt at Worlds of Fun.
It’s not that people don’t want the trucks. They do. More than ever.
But as Ford faces overwhelming demand for its latest iteration of America’s most popular pickup, hundreds of models await final touches and quality reviews.
In October, Ford unveiled its all-new F-150 outside the Kansas City factory.
The new F-150 features an interior work surface over the middle console that can be used for eating a meal or working on a laptop. The tailgate also includes a work surface and plugs in the bed can power external devices with the truck’s on-board generator.
Americans’ love for the pickup hasn’t diminished during the pandemic. And dealers have had trouble stocking the 2021 models as retail orders hit record numbers.
“Customer sold orders are up over 210 percent from a year ago November, and dealer orders for stock are more than double the current production schedule,” Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president of U.S. marketing and sales, said in a December news release. “It’s apparent that this F-150 is something that our customers both want and need.”
Ford began building the new truck, the first complete redesign in five years, as prototypes were still being driven as test models, the Detroit Free Press reported. That has caused stockpiles of trucks in Kansas City and Detroit.
Workers have been installing seat belts and conducting software checks on the trucks that are parked outdoors, the Free Press reported.
“As part of our commitment to delivering high-quality vehicles, we are conducting final quality inspections on trucks built earlier in the process to ensure they meet the quality expectations of our customers,” Kelli Felker, Ford’s manufacturing and labor communications manager, said in a statement to The Star. “The number of trucks awaiting quality inspections continues to dwindle.”
Like other automakers, Ford temporarily paused production in March because of safety concerns about the coronavirus.
Tight inventories from plant shutdowns and the downtime required to retool factories to produce the new model caused November F-150 sales to drop by more than 20%, CNBC reported.
But demand hasn’t dissipated.
John Ragona has been selling Fords since 1993.
“And I’ve never seen the response to a truck like I’ve seen to this one. It’s insane,” he said. “It’s really put us in a bad spot because we don’t have enough product for the demand.”
Ragona, the sales manager at Midway Ford Truck Center, said customers are purchasing pickups now that won’t be delivered for several months. The dealership is only about four miles from the Claycomo factory, but that doesn’t offer any special access to inventory.
“It’s really been nuts,” he said. “If someone were to come in, I don’t even have a truck for them to demo.”
Midway sells to retail customers, but specializes in commercial and fleet sales. Ragona said many people who own their own businesses like to buy new trucks at the end of the year for tax reasons. For that reason, year-end demand is always high.
But this year was like nothing else with consumers drawn to the look and functionality of the newly designed truck.
“Every time they come out with a new truck you think they can’t really do much more,” he said. “I don’t normally get impressed by stuff, but this truck impressed me.”
The demand has led some dealerships to charge above sticker price, though Ragona said that’s not the case at Midway. He said nicely equipped crew cab versions of the 2021 model start at about $45,000. The sticker price for some of the Platinum models approach $80,000.
The Claycomo plant employs 7,250 workers and produces more vehicles than any other Ford factory on the continent. In addition to the F-150, workers build the Transit van.
In November, the automaker announced it would spend $100 million and create 150 additional full-time jobs at the factory to make the new E-Transit, an electric version of its popular Transit van line.
That’s all good news for the automaker. But Ragona said the supply and demand mismatch will pinch dealers here and across the country for the next several months.
“I was told by second quarter we should start to catch up,” he said. “Ford right now is behind the 8-ball. A huge percentage of the vehicles they’re building right now have already been spoken for.”
