Why the new 2020 Explorer and Aviator are having problems
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Lexus Fanatic
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Why the new 2020 Explorer and Aviator are having problems
Although this article probably doesn't tell many of us much of what we don't already know or suspect, it verifies at least a good part of it. A shame, too, since the new Aviator, providing it's screwed-together correctly, is truly an impressive product....light years ahead of its MKX and Nautilus predecessors. Unfortunately, IMO, the same can't be said of the new 2020 Explorer, which, outside of its twin-turbo V6 drivetrain option, I wasn't impressed with in any of its trim levels, properly screwed-together or not.
An interesting case with the Aviator, since the pre-production model I saw at the Lincoln dealer last spring (before they were released in the summer) was built like a tank....it was up there with some Genesis vehicles I've seen in that regard. That specific vehicle was not for sale....it had been brought in by a Lincoln rep for only a couple days of display. But the actual production models that I later did my review on were not as well screwed-together...you could tell the difference. It wasn't a big difference, and they didn't have any severe or catastrophic defects.....just noticeable, that's all. But, apparently, a big number of them are having significant problems.....Ford wouldn't divert them and tie up the Flat Rock plant (which could be doing other things) for nothing.
Anyhow, it looks like Ford's Chicago plant is going to get the blame...the plant's troubles are apparently spilling out into its products.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/manu...-catches-blame
October 21, 2019 09:01 AM
PRINT
(Bloomberg) — Ford Motor Co.’s Jim Hackett and Wall Street analysts started this year frustrated with one another. Sure, the automaker had been underperforming, but the chief executive appealed for time to show he was fixing things. He assured them the redesigned Explorer SUV rolling out months later would be a proof point.
But rather than help the earnings results Ford delivers this week, the Explorer will be a hindrance. Sales have plunged as a plant plagued by personnel problems has struggled to get the new sport utility vehicle out the door. Thousands have been shipped 270 miles away to another Ford factory for rework.
The botched Explorer launch puts Hackett back in the position he was early this year -- testing the patience of investors. A downbeat assessment of how long it will take to turn the automaker around already cost the company an investment-grade credit rating. By pointing to the SUV as one of the first products he influenced, the CEO staked his reputation on it.
Ford Explorer sales plunge 48% as troubled launch stifles supply
$1 billion upgrade at Ford's Chicago plant
Chicago cops getting 200 new Ford hybrids
Ford to fill 450 new jobs in Chicago
“From a design, styling and content standpoint, it hit the marks,” Jeff Schuster, a forecasting analyst for LMC Automotive, said of the Explorer. “But if you can’t get out of the gate, that certainly is going to put some question marks not only on his credibility, but from a consumer standpoint, on the vehicle itself.”
The transformation of Ford’s Chicago assembly plant was one of the most complex in the company’s history, a spokeswoman said. The company is shipping the new Explorer -- the all-time best-selling SUV nameplate in the U.S. -- to dealers now and performing additional quality inspections as needed, she said.
'BIG NEGATIVE'
Ford probably will report on Wednesday that third-quarter profit slipped to 26 cents a share, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg, down from 29 cents a year ago. Automotive revenue is expected to dip to $34.3 billion, from $34.7 billion.
“This Explorer issue is going to be a big negative for the quarter,” said David Whiston, an analyst for Morningstar who rates Ford the equivalent of a buy. “It’s a viciously competitive market and you don’t want to be missing one of your big hitters.”
Ford shares have fallen 15% since Hackett, 64, took over in May 2017. The stock slumped 37% during the tenure of his predecessor, Mark Fields.
When Ford reported early this month that Explorer deliveries collapsed by almost half during the quarter, Mark LaNeve, the automaker’s U.S. sales chief, said dealers had adequate inventory to sell.
“Availability has improved dramatically over the last 30 to 45 days,” he said in an interview. “We’ll be able to hit our stride with Explorer starting now.”
Supply in showrooms may indeed be building up, but a batch of about 2,500 Explorers in need of repairs arrived recently at the company’s factory in Flat Rock, Michigan, which for weeks has been fixing and finishing vehicles shipped from the Chicago plant where the SUV is built, according to people familiar with the matter.
BUGGY SCREENS
LaNeve told analysts on Oct. 2 that the Chicago plant had started shipping Explorers directly to dealers. But most of those models also have required repairs before they can be sold, said the people, who asked not to be identified describing internal issues the company is having.
And not all problems with Chicago-built SUVs are being fixed before they reach customers’ driveways. Consumer Reports had problems with the Lincoln Aviator -- a mechanically similar model built alongside the Explorer -- that the magazine’s testers purchased last month for $63,400. The digital gauges that display speed, fuel consumption and other important information shake and flip, making them difficult to read.
“Ford does tend to struggle with the new introductions, especially if they’re a larger departure from the previous design,” said Jake Fisher, the magazine’s director of auto testing. “It could take a few years to get the bugs worked out.”
Ford is not experiencing similar setbacks as it begins building a redesigned version of its Escape compact SUV at its factory in Louisville, Kentucky. LaNeve told analysts the Escape “is a much more normal launch.”
PROBLEMATIC PLANT
Days after the January debut of the new Explorer -- which hadn’t been redesigned in almost a decade -- Hackett described Ford’s product product development as “constipated,” and said his executive team was fixing what ailed the company.
“The new Explorer and Ranger, which our administration kind of intercepted in process, are good examples of where we started to have influence,” said Hackett, who played football for Bo Schembechler in the 1970s at the University of Michigan.
What the CEO wasn’t counting on was for a problematic plant to cause trouble again. The Chicago factory, fined twice in the last two decades by federal workplace-harassment regulators, is riven with dissension that’s hampering productivity and quality, according to people familiar with the situation.
Roving groups of workers are intimidating other employees, creating a hostile environment, the people said. That’s driving up turnover and leaving some vehicle assembly unfinished, contributing to the company having to complete the work at the Michigan factory or at dealerships, the people said.
Ford is unaware of any recent issues in which employees are intimidating one another, the spokeswoman said. The automaker is waiting its turn to negotiate a new labor contract with the United Auto Workers union, which has been on strike against General Motors Co. since mid-September.
Explaining to Do
Ford spent a combined $1 billion upgrading its 95-year-old assembly plant and 63-year-old stamping factory in Chicago, outfitting them with advanced manufacturing technology to produce the Explorer, Aviator and Police Interceptor Utility.
Those investments included $40 million to upgrade lighting and add security at the plants, where some employees have experienced sexual and racial harassment. In August 2017, the company agreed to pay as much as $10.1 million to settle claims following an investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Ford faced similar charges at the Chicago factories in 1999 that led to a $17.5 millionsettlement.
When Hackett’s executive team discusses quarterly results with analysts this week, they’re likely to have to address how much further the plant has to go to overcome its troubled past.
“You can’t afford to have these kinds of issues in this market environment. It shouldn’t have become the problem that it is,” LMC’s Schuster said. “They have some explaining to do.”
An interesting case with the Aviator, since the pre-production model I saw at the Lincoln dealer last spring (before they were released in the summer) was built like a tank....it was up there with some Genesis vehicles I've seen in that regard. That specific vehicle was not for sale....it had been brought in by a Lincoln rep for only a couple days of display. But the actual production models that I later did my review on were not as well screwed-together...you could tell the difference. It wasn't a big difference, and they didn't have any severe or catastrophic defects.....just noticeable, that's all. But, apparently, a big number of them are having significant problems.....Ford wouldn't divert them and tie up the Flat Rock plant (which could be doing other things) for nothing.
Anyhow, it looks like Ford's Chicago plant is going to get the blame...the plant's troubles are apparently spilling out into its products.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/manu...-catches-blame
October 21, 2019 09:01 AM
Ford botches Explorer launch, and its Chicago plant catches blame
The carmaker's Far South Side factory, fined twice in the last two decades by federal workplace-harassment regulators, is riven with dissension that’s hampering productivity and quality, sources tell Bloomberg.
Bloomberg
Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant(Bloomberg) — Ford Motor Co.’s Jim Hackett and Wall Street analysts started this year frustrated with one another. Sure, the automaker had been underperforming, but the chief executive appealed for time to show he was fixing things. He assured them the redesigned Explorer SUV rolling out months later would be a proof point.
But rather than help the earnings results Ford delivers this week, the Explorer will be a hindrance. Sales have plunged as a plant plagued by personnel problems has struggled to get the new sport utility vehicle out the door. Thousands have been shipped 270 miles away to another Ford factory for rework.
The botched Explorer launch puts Hackett back in the position he was early this year -- testing the patience of investors. A downbeat assessment of how long it will take to turn the automaker around already cost the company an investment-grade credit rating. By pointing to the SUV as one of the first products he influenced, the CEO staked his reputation on it.
EARLIER:
Ford Explorer sales plunge 48% as troubled launch stifles supply
$1 billion upgrade at Ford's Chicago plant
Chicago cops getting 200 new Ford hybrids
Ford to fill 450 new jobs in Chicago
“From a design, styling and content standpoint, it hit the marks,” Jeff Schuster, a forecasting analyst for LMC Automotive, said of the Explorer. “But if you can’t get out of the gate, that certainly is going to put some question marks not only on his credibility, but from a consumer standpoint, on the vehicle itself.”
'BIG NEGATIVE'
“This Explorer issue is going to be a big negative for the quarter,” said David Whiston, an analyst for Morningstar who rates Ford the equivalent of a buy. “It’s a viciously competitive market and you don’t want to be missing one of your big hitters.”
Ford shares have fallen 15% since Hackett, 64, took over in May 2017. The stock slumped 37% during the tenure of his predecessor, Mark Fields.
When Ford reported early this month that Explorer deliveries collapsed by almost half during the quarter, Mark LaNeve, the automaker’s U.S. sales chief, said dealers had adequate inventory to sell.
“Availability has improved dramatically over the last 30 to 45 days,” he said in an interview. “We’ll be able to hit our stride with Explorer starting now.”
Supply in showrooms may indeed be building up, but a batch of about 2,500 Explorers in need of repairs arrived recently at the company’s factory in Flat Rock, Michigan, which for weeks has been fixing and finishing vehicles shipped from the Chicago plant where the SUV is built, according to people familiar with the matter.
LaNeve told analysts on Oct. 2 that the Chicago plant had started shipping Explorers directly to dealers. But most of those models also have required repairs before they can be sold, said the people, who asked not to be identified describing internal issues the company is having.
And not all problems with Chicago-built SUVs are being fixed before they reach customers’ driveways. Consumer Reports had problems with the Lincoln Aviator -- a mechanically similar model built alongside the Explorer -- that the magazine’s testers purchased last month for $63,400. The digital gauges that display speed, fuel consumption and other important information shake and flip, making them difficult to read.
“Ford does tend to struggle with the new introductions, especially if they’re a larger departure from the previous design,” said Jake Fisher, the magazine’s director of auto testing. “It could take a few years to get the bugs worked out.”
Ford is not experiencing similar setbacks as it begins building a redesigned version of its Escape compact SUV at its factory in Louisville, Kentucky. LaNeve told analysts the Escape “is a much more normal launch.”
PROBLEMATIC PLANT
“The new Explorer and Ranger, which our administration kind of intercepted in process, are good examples of where we started to have influence,” said Hackett, who played football for Bo Schembechler in the 1970s at the University of Michigan.
What the CEO wasn’t counting on was for a problematic plant to cause trouble again. The Chicago factory, fined twice in the last two decades by federal workplace-harassment regulators, is riven with dissension that’s hampering productivity and quality, according to people familiar with the situation.
Roving groups of workers are intimidating other employees, creating a hostile environment, the people said. That’s driving up turnover and leaving some vehicle assembly unfinished, contributing to the company having to complete the work at the Michigan factory or at dealerships, the people said.
Ford is unaware of any recent issues in which employees are intimidating one another, the spokeswoman said. The automaker is waiting its turn to negotiate a new labor contract with the United Auto Workers union, which has been on strike against General Motors Co. since mid-September.
Explaining to Do
Those investments included $40 million to upgrade lighting and add security at the plants, where some employees have experienced sexual and racial harassment. In August 2017, the company agreed to pay as much as $10.1 million to settle claims following an investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Ford faced similar charges at the Chicago factories in 1999 that led to a $17.5 millionsettlement.
When Hackett’s executive team discusses quarterly results with analysts this week, they’re likely to have to address how much further the plant has to go to overcome its troubled past.
“You can’t afford to have these kinds of issues in this market environment. It shouldn’t have become the problem that it is,” LMC’s Schuster said. “They have some explaining to do.”
Last edited by mmarshall; Oct 24, 2019 at 08:08 PM.
Thread Starter
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 94,223
Likes: 220
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
The 2020 Explorers, IMO, also have some poorly or questionably-designed features inside. You'll see for yourself if or when you sit in one.
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