Detroit — ford motor companyAutomakers are giving dealers more funding and support to expand their offerings of remote services such as mobile vans, pickup and delivery, the automaker said Thursday.
According to Todd Rabourn, director of customer experience for North America, increased customer demand for such services was driven primarily by the coronavirus pandemic, prompting Ford to step up its capabilities. Ford offsets the cost of up to six repair orders per day for each of his mobile units he services and all pickups and deliveries done by dealers, he said. Payments are made based on store guaranteed labor costs, which vary by market.
Rabourn refused to provide the range of support dealers receive, citing varying rates. He also said the company will provide training for technicians on how to operate the van and how to integrate the service.
“We think this is going to be more and more popular with consumers,” Raybourn said. car news“We know our customers want convenience, and we believe these experiences make it convenient to have their vehicles serviced.”
Ford said the remote experience program is optional and available to all dealers.
Pick-up is when the dealership picks up the car from the customer’s home or place of work and returns it after repairs are completed. Customers can also schedule mobile service vans to perform minor repairs and routine maintenance at qualified locations. Ford says participating dealers will be able to set their own service and mileage limits for each type of remote experience.
Ford’s retail network currently has 828 mobile service vans in approximately 600 dealerships. The automaker hopes to increase that to about 1,400 vans at 1,000 dealerships by the end of this year.
“We have been working with multiple teams at Ford to give our customers more ways to personalize their vehicle service,” Tim Hovik, chair of the Ford National Dealer Council, said in a statement. By expanding our offering of , we will be able to serve our customers when and where they need us.”