As Ford Motor Co. asks many dealers to spend upwards of $1 million to sell future electric vehicles, it also wants retailers to invest in new commercial-focused facilities with larger service bays and expanded hours that it says will boost fixed operations profitability.
The automaker in the coming years expects its retail network to open 120 Elite Commercial Service Centers, each of which would feature at least 24 service bays, be open 72 or more hours a week and include a minimum of five mobile service vans. The first such facility opened in January in Minnesota, with two more expected to follow in the next two months.
Ford on Tuesday provided Automotive News with a first look at details and design renderings for the commercial service centers that it's releasing in conjunction with the Work Truck Show in Indianapolis.
"It's really going after significant unmet needs in the commercial service marketplace," Tim Baughman, general manager of Ford Pro North America, said in an interview.