Ford unveils new F-Series Super Duty trucks designed to boost its commercial, software businesses

DETROIT – Ford Motor is redesigning a pivotal merchandise lineup, leaning connected caller bundle and connected information metrics, to boost profits successful its commercialized conveyance business.

The Detroit automaker connected Tuesday revealed its 2023 F-Series Super Duty trucks, a lineup of vehicles ranging from ample pickups to commercialized trucks and chassis cabs that are utilized for exigency response, towing and plowing, and operation oregon inferior work.

The vehicles – portion of Ford's best-selling F-Series motortruck lineup – are high-margin, cardinal to retaining recurring fleet customers and a large portion of Ford's plans to turn its commercialized business.

"These are massively important. Super Duty is the size of gross of Southwest Airlines, Marriott oregon Nordstrom. It's a large portion of the business," Ted Cannis, CEO of Ford Pro, told CNBC. "And present we're bringing them into the integer age."

Cannis declined to disclose gross for Ford's Super Duty lineup, but Southwest, Marriott and Nordstrom astir precocious reported yearly revenues of betwixt $14 cardinal and $16 billion. Ford reported much than $136 cardinal successful full gross successful 2021.

Super Duty trucks person much than 50% marketplace stock successful utility, mining, operation and exigency effect vehicles, according to Ford, citing information from S&P Global Mobility.

The designs of the caller trucks are notably antithetic connected the exterior, featuring redesigned C-clamp lights and larger grilles. But the astir important changes for Ford can't beryllium seen by the bare eye, including caller electrical architectures, oregon brains, of the vehicles. The updates volition springiness Ford the quality to present caller software, information telematics and fleet absorption tools, Cannis said.

The bundle tools volition assistance businesses way attraction needs, conveyance locations, operator behaviors, wasted idle clip and different metrics. Fleet operators besides tin acceptable cognition times that would forestall the vehicles from starting extracurricular of approved times.

Such services are viewed arsenic large opportunities for Ford to make recurring revenue passim the lifecycles of the vehicles – thing automakers specified arsenic Ford person been incapable to execute beyond regular attraction and repairs done franchised dealers.

The ngo of Ford Pro is to enactment arsenic a one-stop store for vehicles arsenic good arsenic the bundle absorption that companies usage to show them, Cannis said, laying the groundwork for subscription-based businesses and further recurring gross opportunities for Ford that person historically been the domain of third-party companies.

The connected features are powered by embedded 5G connectivity – a archetypal for pickups successful the U.S — utilizing AT&T work and a Qualcomm modem.

"We're focused connected maximizing productivity, maximizing the bottommost enactment for businesses of each sizes," Raj Sarkar, Ford Pro wide manager of merchandise selling and strategy, said during a media briefing.  

Ford Pro is 1 of 3 main concern areas for the institution nether CEO Jim Farley's Ford+ restructuring plan, which targets maturation and worth instauration successful each 3 segments successful the years to come.

The Super Duty trucks besides diagnostic caller interiors arsenic good arsenic different trailering and towing updates – some cardinal to owners of larger trucks. The caller features see trailer navigation, which plots routes that tin beryllium safely navigated with fixed trailer dimensions and value to debar imaginable issues with debased bridges and choky turns, arsenic good arsenic a 2nd backup camera that tin beryllium utilized erstwhile the tailgate of a motortruck is down.

Though Ford is investing billions successful electrical vehicles, the caller trucks are powered by 1 of 4 V-8 gasoline oregon diesel engines. Large trucks specified arsenic Ford's Super Duty are expected to proceed to beryllium powered by accepted engines for the foreseeable future.

The 2023 F-Series Super Duty is built astatine Ford assembly plants successful Kentucky and Ohio. Pricing volition beryllium disposable person to motorboat successful aboriginal 2023. The starting prices of the vehicles presently scope from astir $40,000 to astir $100,000.

Ford unveiled its caller Super Duty products a time aft crosstown rival, General Motors, announced updates to its 2024 Chevrolet Heavy-Duty pickup that is expected to spell into accumulation the archetypal fractional of adjacent year.