Ford executive expects software to boost revenue for commercial trucks, vans

The new platform will help Ford Pro meet some ambitious 2026 targets (Reuters file image)

Ford Motor expects to incorporate more and better software into the trucks and vans in its highly profitable Ford Pro commercial vehicle business and grow revenues by $4,000-$5,000 per vehicle in the future, a top executive said on Thursday.

Navin Kumar, chief financial officer of Ford Pro, said the automaker would look to boost revenue with software- and data-driven fleet services, safety and security services, partial vehicle autonomy and insurance.

Kumar, speaking at a J.P. Morgan investor conference, did not give a percentage forecast for revenue or profit margin growth, but said Ford's ability to deliver and profit from those services will be enhanced in the middle of this decade when the company introduces its next-generation electric commercial vehicles with a new digital "intelligence" platform.

That new platform will help Ford Pro meet some ambitious 2026 targets, he said, including doubling the percentage of connected vehicles to about 60% and tripling the percentage of vehicles with paid software to about 36%.

Ford Pro will continue to offer a full portfolio of combustion engine, hybrid electric and full electric vehicles, Kumar said.

Its second-generation EVs, including the successor to the F-150 Lightning pickup, will be more profitable, in terms of their ability to generation additional software and services revenue.

Kumar said the current F-150 Lightning was not "cost optimized," but declined to say whether it was profitable.

He said Ford Pro expects to boost its commercial vehicle business in Europe with the arrival this fall of a new Transit Custom van and the introduction next year of electric versions of the Transit Courier and Transit Custom.