Ford Pro Virtual Assistant Simplifies Commercial Fleet Management

Ford now offers fleet managers a virtual assistant that can perform tasks such as reporting on the condition of company vehicles and scheduling service.

The new Ford Pro AI is available at no additional cost to Ford Pro Telematics subscribers in the United States, the company said in a Tuesday (March 10) announcement.

Ford Pro is the automaker’s business unit focused on commercial customers.

Ford Pro AI provides fleet managers with data on everything from whether a vehicle’s seatbelt is being used to the status of each vehicle’s health, according to the announcement.

For example, the company said, a user may ask, “What vehicles need service this month?” In response, the virtual assistant provides a list of vehicles that need service, helps prioritize which ones to service first and helps book a maintenance or repair appointment, per the announcement.

If a user notices a spike in the fleet’s fuel costs, Ford Pro AI can identify issues such as idle times, speeding and acceleration events. It can recommend ways to reduce fuel consumption and draft an email to share these recommendations with drivers, according to the announcement.

“What used to take an afternoon now takes minutes,” Brian Girer, senior product manager at Ford Pro Intelligence, said in the announcement. “And when this intelligence comes directly from embedded modems in your Ford commercial vehicles, you get manufacturer-grade accuracy, not guesswork.”

Ford Pro was launched in May 2021 as a separate unit within Ford that focuses on commercial vehicles, products and services for business and government customers.

“We’re creating a one-stop shop to help those customers increase uptime and productivity while reducing complexity and the total cost of ownership,” Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley said when announcing the launch of Ford Pro.

Ford reported in January that its global customer base of Ford Pro Intelligence paid software subscribers grew by 30% in the fourth quarter and reached 840,000.

“Our innovative ecosystem of software and services works hand-in-hand with our vehicles to help customers supercharge productivity,” Hans Schep, general manager, Ford Pro, Europe, said when announcing these figures.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Reshaping Global Business With Connected Vehicles” found that connected vehicles can assist with everything from predictive maintenance to driver coaching.