Got my transfer to the Lightning plant and saw first dealer mannequin trucks go down the line!

[LightningShow]

I thought they said every EV dealer gets a mannequin? So that's 2,300 mannequins. I think that's a great thing for people with orders on the books. The more trucks they put through the line before yours, the more chances they have to work out little (or big) quality issues.

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[vandy1981]

Y’all do know that they sell the demo cars as well right? Some are likely gonna be sold well before we even get the Standard range trucks in June.

They are required to hold on to demo vehicles for a period of time before sale. It was 4 months or 4000 miles for the Mach-E, so I'd assume something similar for the Lightning.

 

[beatle]

Dealers/Inside people here have already stated that mannequins have been scheduled to be built before any customer vehicles.

Color me surprised. I don't see the logic there, especially if it's for a vehicle that someone can't even reserve an opportunity to order one, much less place an order directly. To have 2300 mannequins produced, they are tying up over $100m in assets. If you already reserved one and Ford won't deliver it until at least MY23... sheesh, Ford is really rubbing your nose in it.

I could see Ford delivering a few to EV hotspots or "Model E" dealers as a way to perpetuate the buzz, but not before the first customer orders.

 

[GDN]

If you ordered anything other than Antimatter Blue, you made a mistake.
#ISaidWhatISaid

???

Please don't water down my Color Choice I was hoping to remain a little unique. However I've seen the graphs, almost as many AMB's as any other color. We'll just stick together.

 

[rdr854]

Color me surprised. I don't see the logic there, especially if it's for a vehicle that someone can't even reserve an opportunity to order one, much less place an order directly. To have 2300 mannequins produced, they are tying up over $100m in assets. If you already reserved one and Ford won't deliver it until at least MY23... sheesh, Ford is really rubbing your nose in it.

I could see Ford delivering a few to EV hotspots or "Model E" dealers as a way to perpetuate the buzz, but not before the first customer orders.

I would think that the logic is to allow those who have reserved and/ordered to see what the Lightning is - especially for those who will have longer wait times. And, even for those who were in Waves 1-5, I’m sure many of those will want to be able to put eyes on a mannequin as well.

 

[p52Ranch]

Color me surprised. I don't see the logic there, especially if it's for a vehicle that someone can't even reserve an opportunity to order one, much less place an order directly. To have 2300 mannequins produced, they are tying up over $100m in assets. If you already reserved one and Ford won't deliver it until at least MY23... sheesh, Ford is really rubbing your nose in it.

I could see Ford delivering a few to EV hotspots or "Model E" dealers as a way to perpetuate the buzz, but not before the first customer orders.

Mannequin units are standard for newly released Ford vehicles. The dealers sign up for the program. They have to keep the vehicle in service for approximately 6,000 miles or 6 months. (could be a service loaner, available for test drives, etc.) After that the dealership will sell the mannequin unit. Hopefully the dealer would first look to Lightning reservation holders as potential buyers.

*During the past year and a half because of the lack of vehicles to sell, dealers have become very creative on meeting the service requirements. With Bronco sales, some dealers sold mannequin units when they arrived but the customer had to wait 6 months to take possession of the Bronco. Ford relaxed the rules on selling mannequin Bronco Sports and allowed dealers to sell them early.

 

[sotek2345]

Any word on if Ford will offer factory tours of the new Lightning facility like they do for ICE F150s? I would love to do that!

 

[Regular150]

Color me surprised. I don't see the logic there, especially if it's for a vehicle that someone can't even reserve an opportunity to order one, much less place an order directly. To have 2300 mannequins produced, they are tying up over $100m in assets. If you already reserved one and Ford won't deliver it until at least MY23... sheesh, Ford is really rubbing your nose in it.

I could see Ford delivering a few to EV hotspots or "Model E" dealers as a way to perpetuate the buzz, but not before the first customer orders.

Let's say there's 2,300 dealer mannequins. Multiply that number by the people that would be able to see the vehicle sit in the vehicle and see what Ford has to offer. Now just send those 2300 mannequins straight to one of our homes, those opportunities are dramatically limited to show the lightning to potential future Ford customers. It also gives the dealers an opportunity to connect with customers they may not have ever met. Now don't get me wrong I would love to have the truck at my house instead!?

 

[beatle]

Well there is clearly a bunch about Ford's processes that I do not understand! I agree that a truck in a dealership will generate more demand, but generating demand does not seem to be a problem Ford needs to solve anyway. I saw them delivering mannequins once they are able to get a handle on satisfying demand for their existing reservation holders.

 

[tbinmd]

The mannequin vehicles are also a way to test out assembly and QA on the initial builds. Not sure I would want my truck to be one of the first ones built.

 

[Regular150]

Well The full size Bronco Mannequin/Demo was at our dealership for about 60 days until our Soft Top Badlands was delivered. Their were plenty of people that came in to see it and help them decide if its worth waiting for or canceling their Wrangler, 4runner, Discovery, etc; purchase.
So in the long run it does help Ford. We're still showing are Mach E to people that are deciding between a Model Y or Mach E as after the requisite amount of months past the local dealer put real nice rims and tires and sold their only demo for way more than I thought anyone would pay.

 

[JoeDimwit]

Any word on if Ford will offer factory tours of the new Lightning facility like they do for ICE F150s? I would love to do that!

I don’t think so. I don’t see a way they could bring people through this plant safely.

 

[hturnerfamily]

The VW ID.4 went thru the same 'demo' rules - the dealers could demo and provide test rides/drives, but could NOT sell them.

 

[thegangler]

The mannequin vehicles are also a way to test out assembly and QA on the initial builds. Not sure I would want my truck to be one of the first ones built.

This is the answer, all the other Lightnings that exist were essentially artisan hand-made versions. These are the 1st consumer-facing trucks to go down the line, and they want to work the bugs out on those.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I started there this morning, and got to see the first customer [admin edit: likely dealer mannequin] trucks go down the line. It’s still gonna be a minute before they hit dealerships, but they are a commin’…

Congrat's on the transfer, hopefully you can share landmark events like when production rates increase or line expansion happens.

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