A representative for Stellantis declined to comment, but Jeff Kommor, who recently assumed the new position of senior vice president of Ram Professional commercial sales, made the automaker's goal clear during the company’s press event last week at the National Truck and Equipment Work Truck Week in Indianapolis, according to Fleet Owner: “On March 1, they said, ‘Jeff, you have a new opportunity: Go and crush Ford Motor Company, and let’s become the No. 1 (light-commercial vehicle) machine on the planet.’ So that’s my goal. That’s my mission.”

With these new, aggressive pushes, it's shaping up to be a "war zone" in the sector, said Chris Frey, senior industry intelligence manager at auto information resource Cox Automotive Inc. "The next few years are probably going to be a little bit of a battlefield with respect to pricing, vehicle offerings and then customizations that the manufacturers can do themselves."

Ford says it holds a 40% U.S. market share of Class 1 through 7 full-sized trucks and vans.

“There's a lot of flattery,” Baughman said about the competitors, but “we’re not done. We are not done at all. We have a long roadmap of actions that are happening, and we plan to play.”

Ford Pro Chief Financial Officer Navin Kumar last month at a conference gave a glimpse at some of that future, and it includes video telematics, automatic control features and curated telematics data services.

Customers like Kevin Merritt have seen the rollout of new supports in real-time. His Metropolitan Air Compressor business based in Roseville began converting its fleet to Ford vehicles a decade ago when it introduced the Transit commercial van. He liked that his technicians didn’t need to hunch while working in the vans, and there was only one step into them instead of two, which makes it easier to carry equipment in and out of the vehicle. He has nearly 40 vehicles in his fleet, including Transits, F-series pickups and Super Duty trucks.

He said he’d requested mobile maintenance service that allows his technicians to be on their job site while getting an oil change, software updates, a filter replacement and other fixes. Ford Pro now offers that service through its dealerships with 1,200 vans and Super Duties.

“It reduces my downtime for my technicians,” Merritt said. “They’re still able to work while the vehicle is being worked on.”

Last year, Merritt began using Ford Pro Telematics after researching the options available. He liked that the plug-in device to leverage the software was designed specifically for the vehicles and that 2020 model-year vehicles and after have the module built into them.

The technology allows him to have an overall picture of his fleet, from each vehicle's maintenance to its location to its miles per gallon. His safety manager has direct access to daily vehicle safety checks and information on driving behavior. His chief financial officer can examine repair costs and identify when it makes sense to replace a vehicle. The company also receives a single bill at the end of the month for maintenance-related costs instead of having to reimburse employees. Technicians have access to information on the vehicles they drive on their phone, as well.

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