So where is all the inventory? I read the are producing over 300 a day.
Supply chains for vehicles, and big vans, suck. Not that ford would say but I suspect a satellite pass over the factory would show 10,000+vehicles awaiting rail cars to pick them up. There isn't enough rail cars capable of handling high roof vans at the moment, although there is a bunch under construction. Nissan and Ford apparently have the bulk of them locked up via shipping contracts.
This is why the Promaster has been arriving via truck from Rams compound in Texas. (or so the story goes)
Once rail cars take them to the appropriate compound for shipping to the dealers there is another bottleneck, as high roof vans take up more than one spot on the truck carrier. My vans show up one at a time on the very back of the auto transport truck. The vans typically sit much longer in the compound waiting for the appropriate load to carry them.
Frankly two things I'm watching for in the Transit. Inventory supply to be at approximately 90 days on the dealer lot. (if we sell 10 per month we'd want to have 30 on the ground), anecdotal evidence from the forums say there's one or two at most dealers and it's only x engine and y wheelbase. The ford dealer that I sell to (his leasing department) just got his first one last week.
Second, and I don't have this information handy, (I think Wards Auto has it behind the paywall) we need to see how many E-Series remain "in manufacturer inventory". If Ford went batshit crazy and has (for a wild ass guess number) 150,000 of them sitting around it'll be some time before buyers are forced to choose something new (either transit or switching brands).
Being a competitor to this machine I'm keenly interested in seeing if it's a strong transition or a large chunk of the business becomes up for grabs.
