Overboost

Yeah...not buying that last part. That would certainly be new territory for Ford.

UOP Shadow

SVT shouldn't have an order for a GT500 if the dealer doesn't have an allocation. However, this doesn't keep unscrupulous dealers from taking your deposit and saying you have an order even without an allocation. Those people are gonna get screwed. There shouldn't be anybody who is "waiting for an allocation." The dealer either has allocations or not. It is not a matter of a customer "having or waiting" for an allocation.

UOP Shadow

There is a difference between when the vehicle will be announced & when it will be built / available. The new 2015 Mustang will be "announced" in April 2014, NOT delivered in showrooms. My guess is, they won't be building the 2015s until after that date. If they still have valid 2014 GT500 orders, they should continue building them throughout the time that Ford is still building 2014 MY cars. I could see fewer 2014 GT500 allocations to ensure that they get all of them built by the time the line has to switch over to the 2015 MY Stangs.

2k7gtcs

If Ford is going to start building 2014s in January as some have said, I highly doubt they will still be building them come next April.

UOP Shadow

Are you saying they'll only build the 2014 MY cars for 4 months?

2k7gtcs

No. Someone has said here that the assembly line starts for 2014s this January 2013.

Overboost

Absolutely, but if you think they'll come in over a weekend and totally convert the plant to build the 2015, you're mistaken. 2014MY cars will start rolling off the line in early 2013, and we may see the production 2015 car in April 2014. After that, it may be a short amount of time between reveal and production, given the nature of the vehicle and history.

I can almost guarantee they won't be building two different platform based Mustangs on the same line at the same time.

xlover

I wouldn't be surprised if they stop accepting orders for GT500s spring/early summer 2013 which would allow them to build all remaining orders then shut down GT500 production until the 2015 starts. Everyone who put an order in would get a 2013/2014 GT500 which will be the exact same car. Then i assume they would stop GTs and V6s a bit after. Based on the marketing cycle for this car i would think 2015 production will start march 2014 at the latest. Ford needs to get these cars onto lots for the mustang's prime selling season which is spring/summer.

Snoopy49

This information is almost 5 months old and the statements made are no longer valid.

UOP Shadow

If you've never been to an assembly plant, you'd be surprised at how quickly they can change over a line. The beauty of the assembly-line type process is its flexibility for quick change-overs. All the shuttles for moving parts / vehicles down the line are universal to be used across multiple platforms.

For example; the machine that stamps out a fender for a 2014 Mustang can be changed over within 2 hours to start stamping a fender for a 2015 Mustang. Or even an Explorer or other model.

The trick is, the main assy line components don't change, just the parts that travel along change.

Why not? Ford did it with the 2004 F150. They offered the new body style as well as the old body stlye which they called the "heritage edition." As long as there are enough parts to build the PY models, it's pointless not to build them. Ford doesn't want a whole bunch of inventory sitting around their factory. Even though their factory is JIT, they don't want any unecessary extra parts laying around. That's just dollars thrown into the wind.

going for broke

Hmm. Back in 97 they offered both body styles of f-150 as well as in the changeover year of 2004. Called it a heritage I believe.

Overboost

I work in a manufacturing plant, and I fully understand the gravity of situations like model year changeover (we're going through one right now). It's not bad when you're sticking with a similar part, but in the case of the upcoming Mustang, many reports indicate it will be riding on an all new platform. That requires significant re-tooling of stamping machines, build process, etc. to make work. Couple that with the fact that Ford has moved some Fusion production there, and the new FRAP will be at the highest capacity it's seen in almost a decade. Right now, it might be possible with the one shift and limited build.


Keep in mind, this was eight years ago, and under a different Ford regime. It might still be possible to happen now, but it's more doubtful than ever. With companies enacting Lean/Six Sigma initatives, you don't want high inventory levels sitting around. I'm not familiar with the F150 situation, but keep these things in mind; 1 - F150s sell a lot more than Mustangs, 2 - It's likely that they were riding on the same platform, and 3 - IMO, it sounds like an abundance of parts or something of that sort.

I would be willing to bet a large amount of money that if Ford has slated X number of GT500's for the 13-14 model, they'll build them. Stay tuned to the dealers to see what the deal is with the situation.

4x4xFord

yes, but as I recall, the conversion was by assembly plant, with some on the Heritage model, some on the new one - the F-150 has multiple locations. Not so for the Mustang.

UOP Shadow

Six sigma is an over-priced joke! You're better off paying more for good quality tooling up front than having to hire a bunch of geeks to over-analyze process variables and chasing moving targets. In the long run, a company that skimps on tooling $ will also skimp on optimizing processes & poka yoke opportunities.

I think that's why at the last Ford Supplier conference I went to, they told us to forget about Six Sigma. Ford wants "zero defects." They don't care how you develop / control your process, just don't ship them any bad parts. If you do, it's CS2 for you. And that's no fun.

I've never been to FRAP. How many lines do they run there?

Overboost

I agree, most of these lean "strategies" are just common sense with a new twist on it. We focus on FTQ and OEE. Bottom line, don't make bad parts.

FRAP is running one shift right now, but it's only one main line. I'm not familiar with the other Ford assembly plants, but you follow one main build sequence in there, without any spur lines (that I noticed).

Boomer

Different situation.

At that time, the F150 was built at IIRC 3 different plants (Oakville being one of them)
When the 2004 came out and they had a different model year, it was final build outs in Oakville until that plant section was closed (and eventually demo'd) and they built the heritage there (V6s only)

Now I'm just guessing here but,
I don't know if that had anything to do with the CAW and having to keep that plant open for a certain time past the changeover to the 2004.

I'm guessing at that time there was no way they were going to retool for the 2004 knowing that the truck plant was going to be nuked.

MyStang2010GB

The initial build for the GT500 was for 4200 units. Ford pushed it to 4800 units but has since revised that back to 4200. I got this info this morning from the GM of my local dealer...

infoleather

This is a major pita bread, because it is, I can not put this BS Ford and distributors.

Overboost

Uh....what?!?

Snoopy49

Do I smell SPAM?