Ford turns ‘dirty' business into a profit driver. GM and Stellantis are taking notice

Fleet, a once"dirty" word, and business, in the automotive industry has turned into a multibillion-dollar battleground for U.S. automakers, led by Ford Motor.

"There's much more of an emphasis now on profitability and how fleet can help that," said Mark Hazel, S&P Global Mobility associate director of commercial vehicle reporting." are looking at how they strategically go about this. It's been a very targeted approach with how they deal with fleets."Many fleet sales, especially daily rentals, have historically been viewed as a negative for auto companies.

"Breaking apart the fleet channel, we see that Commercial sales have been the weakest. And zooming in further, there are just two that appear especially challenged: STLA and, to a lesser extent, GM," Wolfe Research said in an investor note Wednesday. GM, citing third-party data, claims it outsold Ford last year in a segment of fleet sales: commercial vehicles sold exclusively to businesses and not individual buyers.

But automakers, including Ford, also see fleet operations as a key driver in other ways, including for electric vehicle sales, as well as reoccurring revenue options such as software and logistical services. "It's a highly profitable business. Not only on the product side, but on the services side," she told CNBC during a media event last week."Software and connected services are really a significant growth opportunity for us as well.

Sandor Piszar, vice president of GM Envolve in North America, said the Detroit automaker views the business as a competitive advantage not just to sell vehicles but to create reoccurring revenue and relationships with businesses.GM Envolve, formerly known as GM Fleet, reorganized the automaker's business to be a one-stop shop for fleet customers — from sales and financing to fleet management, logistics and maintenance.

United States United States Latest News, United States United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Ford turns 'dirty' business into a profit driver. GM and Stellantis are taking noticeFord has turned its fleet business into an earnings powerhouse. It's something General Motors and Chrysler parent Stellantis have quickly taken notice of.
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »