Ford Motor Co. is shifting funds from its electric vehicle division, and the beneficiary is its cash-cow Ford Pro commercial vehicle and Super Duty truck business.

A bumpier-than-expected adoption curve of electric vehicles — because of their cost and availability of charging infrastructure, as well as a regulatory rollback — has resulted in delays in products and a reallocation of resources from future EV programs.

The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker isn't abandoning electrification, but it's spending to maximize profits, advance recurring revenues and "accelerate" its multi-year business plan, CEO Jim Farley said during a second-quarter earnings call. Ford Pro is where the company finds its answer.

"Ford's the 900-pound gorilla in the fleet commercial business," said Rhett Ricart, a Columbus, Ohio-area dealer who sells Ford, Chevrolet and Hyundai vehicles along with several other brands. "But I think in the last five years, they've become the 1,500-pound gorilla, because they continue to grow this business while their competition in that segment have been dawdling in it."

Ford hasn't shared how much it's reallocating to Pro from the Model e EV division. But the focus for those funds is service and software, executives said. The company now has about 70 dealerships in more than 20 markets that are certified Ford Pro Elite Centers delivering specialized support to commercial customers, a program launched in January 2023.

It's also nearly doubled subscriptions sold to small- and medium-sized businesses. And it's shooting for aftermarket, which includes parts and software, to represent 20% of Pro's operating profit, up from 17%.

"We have solutions for all customers, no matter what they're looking for," Matt Atkenson, executive director of Pro's North American sales and operations, told The Detroit News. "And then when we can back it up with Ford Pro Elite service centers that are focused on their uptime, that's how you stay the market leader. And if we don't lose focus on that, we will stay that way."

Aggressive greenhouse gas emissions regulations could be a challenge. Ford and its crosstown rivals rank as the worst contributors of tailpipe emissions among major automakers. But with the Environmental Protection Agency moving to eliminate the last major environmental regulation on the U.S. auto industry, CEO Farley said Ford would benefit from a different product mix, including more trucks and large SUVs.

The company has faced limitations in its production capacity. Ford said it'll expand Super Duty production next year to its idled Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario, but tariffs on Canadian imports create challenges. Navin Kumar, Pro's chief financial officer, however, said that project continues with the ability to supply Canada and other markets like Australia, the Middle East and South America out of Oakville, freeing capacity at Kentucky Truck Plant for U.S. orders.

"Unfortunately," said David Whiston, an analyst at financial services firm Morningstar Inc., "the decline in (federal) infrastructure spending could be a negative to Super Duty sales, too."

Kumar said last month that Pro demand for now is holding up. Ford's decision in 2022 to separate out its three core businesses — Ford Blue for gas- and diesel-powered vehicles and hybrids, Ford Pro, and Model e — communicates more clearly where its value creation results in greater focus on and prioritization of commercial customers, Kumar said. The unit's 12% operating profit margin in the second quarter of 2025 outpaced Blue's 2.6% and Model e's $1.3 billion loss. Pro booked a $2.3 billion operating profit.

Limiting the time Pro vehicles are off the road saves customers money, which boosts loyalty and opportunities for higher-margin, recurring revenue streams that support that mission, Kumar said. Ford Pro has relationships with more than 125,000 commercial and government fleet customers in North America and thousands more in Europe.

Service and software

Chris Fennema, vice president at Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Kent Companies, a specialty trade contractor, said it's like Ford Pro anticipates his needs before he knows. For decades, the company that Fennema's grandfather founded in 1957 has used Ford trucks. Today, the contractor has about 180 vehicles in its national fleet, 95% of which are Fords, mostly F-250s and F-550 chassis cabs.

"We've always bought Fords, and we tried some other brands, and we continue to come back to the Fords, just because the way Ford has always kept the commercial market in mind when they built their trucks," Fennema said. "We consistently found that the Ford chassis hold up longer. Their suspensions are more durable. Their brakes are more durable. Everything across the line in a Ford truck has proven to outlast the competition when we put them head-to-head."

Kent Companies frequently works with Fox Ford in Grand Rapids for service. Fennema recalled instances in which the dealership was able to shave as much as four weeks off expected downtime because of the equipment and skilled technicians it had to work on the heavy-duty pickups.

More recently, in December 2024, Fox Ford opened its elite service center. Ford is identifying among its 740 existing commercial vehicle center dealers these elite service centers. They must have at least 24 bays for Class 1 to 7 vehicles, stronger lifts, five mobile service vans, extended service hours and other requirements to meet the special needs of commercial customers.

"It just seems like they have a finger on the pulse that nobody else does," Fennema said of Ford Pro.

There are costs associated with this expansion. Columbus' Ricart said he's invested about $10 million for a 117,000-square-foot commercial vehicle sales and service center that opened in 2023. He recently became certified elite. He now has about 70 stalls, including longer ones for the larger commercial vehicles.

The investment is worth it, said Ricart, whose commercial revenue is up 23% year-over-year: "It's almost like the success is instantaneous. As soon as you get the space, and you get some parts in there, you don't even have to advertise. These businesses are salivating for someone that can come in there and get them back on the road today."

There can be financial support from Ford for these commercial centers, but each situation is different based on the size of the market and available resources, Pro's Atkenson said. Since 2022, North American dealers have invested more than $2 billion to expand commercial service capacity. In 2026, Kumar expects to surpass 100 elite centers. Metro Detroit doesn't yet have one, but Ford is working with local dealers on opening locations here, said Marty Field, director of Ford Pro Elite Commercial Service Centers.

Ford Pro now has more than 750,000 subscriptions across more than 130,000 accounts, Atkenson said. That's grown the need for service bays and mobile repair vans. The technology helps fleet managers to track their vehicles, work progress and driver behavior, but it also can monitor maintenance needs and communicate when a vehicle has an issue. The technology helps dealers schedule an appointment or mobile service visit, or predict when a vehicle will need a part and order it to reduce out-of-service time.

"There is more opportunity for subscription and data services to be more sustainable on the business side for Ford Pro," said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst covering North and South America at S&P Global Mobility, compared to retail customers. "If you can justify a service because it saves money, you're more likely to stick around."

Software products also have higher margins — more than 50%, executives have said in the past. The company is investing in more vehicle commands and controls for fleet managers, an easier-to-use interface and onboarding process, and tools for Ford employees and partners to support customers, Kumar said.

"That's really the flywheel," he said last month at the J.P. Morgan Automotive Conference.

Kent Companies uses a different telematics provider to track its vehicles as well as construction equipment, Fennema said. Ford is partnering with software providers to offer solutions for customers' whole fleets, not just Ford vehicles, Kumar said.

Challenges to growth

Commercial vehicles often work daily and drive thousands of miles more in a year than those owned by retail customers. That means additional maintenance and repairs. Ford also has issued more recalls this year than any automaker in the past has issued in a whole year, and recalls contributed to a 3.4% sales decline for F-Series trucks in August.

Executives have said they're focused on improving quality that's reflected in the latest models rolling off its assembly lines, and many fixes are issued through immediate over-the-air software updates.

"Ford is always going to be proactive when it comes to the health and safety of the customer," Atkenson said. "We have something like 99% of our vehicles are up and running. When a recall happens, it changes our approach and definitely has challenges, but when they're software-related, which many of these are, we can send them quickly and get customers back on the road."

Expanding service centers also means a need for more technicians. But there's an annual shortfall of about 37,000 trained techs, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association. Commercial vehicles can require a higher level of expertise, but that can yield higher pay. Ricart said he hasn't had a problem finding employees.

Ford Pro is holding an Accelerate conference at the end of the month to address policies and solutions around skilled trades and other "essential economy" blue-collar work. Ford Philanthropy also funds technician scholarships in partnership with dealers, and the company is creating a new classroom training course for Elite Service technicians.

Other automakers have revamped commercial offerings in recent years. General Motors Co. in 2023 announced GM Envolve, a reimagining of GM Fleet. It also absorbed subsidiary BrightDrop, an electric commercial van business, which has since been moved under the Chevrolet brand.

Stellantis NV last year introduced Ram Professional as its commercial business division under the Stellantis Pro One commercial strategy. Both companies are planning to expand mobile service, too.

Ford has emphasized its internal combustion engine, hybrid and all-electric offerings in its portfolio. The automaker plans to launch a low-cost EV platform, starting with a $30,000 midsize truck, in 2027. An electric commercial van and full-size truck will follow in 2028.

"Even with the gradual transition to EVs," Whiston said, "Ford has not really lost share around commercial customers."

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