- ford delayed production of the bronco off-road suv due to issues with its hardtop supplier, ford marketing manager mark grueber previously told car and driver.
- every two- and four-door hardtop model built was affected, and in december ford said the replacement roofs are now available.
- ford will replace the roofs of the broncos that have already been delivered and built. those who ordered and had not gotten a build date are getting a 2022 model or had the option to switch to a soft top model.
update 12/6/21: ford says that all bronco hardtop models at its michigan plant have the replacement roofs, and these models will begin shipping by the end of the year. existing customers who have already taken delivery can work with their dealership to receive the hardtop roof replacement.
update 8/13/21: we have added a response from the top supplier, webasto, at the end of this story.
the ford bronco is being plagued by delays once again because of quality issues with its molded-in color hardtops, which are available on both two- and four-door models. ford told car and driver that every hardtop model built to date is affected, and the automaker will replace every hardtop roof starting as soon as october. the bronco's soft top, available only on the four-door model, is not affected and is still being built and delivered.
ford says it will first replace the roofs of customer broncos that have been delivered or built, and despite the issue, owners can continue to drive their broncos. those who have ordered a bronco and have not yet received a build date will get a 2022 model or have the ability to switch to a softtop model with a hardtop prep kit free of charge. grueber told c/d that affected customers who converted their reservation to an order by march 21, 2021, are price protected until the 2023 model year regardless of whether ford adjusts the bronco's msrp. ford will provide estimated delivery windows starting in september.
ford spokesperson mike levine said on twitter that the goal is to have all first edition models built by the end of the year. production of the 2022 model year will begin in december with order banks opening in september. new features and colors will be added as well as not-yet-revealed special editions. additionally, starting in the 2023 model year, a modular painted hard top will be available on the two- and four-door models.
production of the 2021 bronco was already moved back earlier this year because of coronavirus-related delays from its roof supplier, webasto. ford is still planning to receive the new hardtop roofs from webasto, and it says it is working with the supplier to fix the quality issues. c/d reached out to webasto, and a spokesperson told us: "the imperfections are microscopic, do not affect the functionality of the roof, and are exposed in heavy rain and humidity. we found it and have now put in corrective steps."
this story originally published 8/12/21.