It’s been just over two weeks since applicants for the new Ford GT were given notice of their application status. The 6,506 applicants were put into three categories for the 500 allocations Ford doled out: accepted, priority waitlist, and deferred. There’s been much discussion about who got an allocation, especially on the celebrity front, and now we have some clarifying information on the subject.
Raj Nair announced at Ford GT Rally 10 that existing Ford GT owners would be giving priority in the allocation process for the new GT. In an interview that’s just been published on @FordOnline, Nair detailed that nearly 70% of the first 500 allocations went to existing GT owners. Additionally, 87% of the total allocations went to existing Ford owners of some kind. Based on the application questions themselves, it’s safe to assume that second group was comprised primarily of large fleet customers, Ford suppliers, motorsports partners, major collectors, and a handful of Ford dealers. Whatever the exact composition of the remaining allocation recipients, it’s clear that existing Ford GT owners were by far the largest applicant group that received allocations.
Those stats are great, but the most important portion of the interview wasn’t related to the 500 allocations just granted. Nair, discussing reaction to the application process, said “We created a distribution strategy in an effort to be as fair as possible and are working on a plan that will allow us to make even more deserving applicants happy. Stay tuned.”
Let’s examine a few facts:
- Ford has publicly committed to racing the new Ford GT for a total of 4 years, including making clear the intent to continue the 4-car assault at Le Mans through 2019.
- Ford’s head of global product development has now stated the company is working on a plan that will allow them to satisfy “even more” of the deserving applicants who threw in hoping for a new GT.
- Ford has already notified a large block of applicants that they are on a “priority waitlist” and had those individuals turn in the same order preferences and signed affidavits accepted applicants did.
The implication here seems obvious.
The fact that nearly 350 of the 500 cars went to existing GT owners has to make you feel good about your odds as a GT owner in the event future production is announced. We’ve seen at least 70 recipients acknowledge on this website that they received an acceptance letter, and there are a number of forum users whose applications were accepted that have yet to acknowledge that fact publicly. Most of these people have little or no social media presence and essentially none of them are famous, so that alone blows an enormous hole in the notion Ford primarily catered to celebrities or social media with the allocation process.
Based on production volumes, it was a mathematical certainty that some really great customers and Ford GT enthusiasts would not get one of the 500 allocations. However, with the information we have now, it appears certain that there is cause for both patience and optimism for Ford GT owners hoping to get a new GT. Stay tuned indeed.
