Employees Get Hands-On with Ford+ at Capital Markets Day Preview Event

Off-road jumps in an F-150 Raptor R. Drifting in a Mustang Dark Horse. Drag racing and autocross in Ford’s latest electrified icons: the F-150 Lightning and the Mustang Mach-E, respectively. This is how more than two dozen employees spent their Saturday afternoon at the Dearborn Development Center experiencing first-hand how Ford+ is taking shape.

Forty employees were chosen from a drawing on @FordOnline for the chance to experience the latest products and services from Ford Blue, Model e and Ford Pro ahead of Ford’s Capital Markets Day event for analysts and investors. Attendees also heard company leaders who gave the background of each customer-centric business segments.

The event kicked off with a deep dive into Ford Pro, the company’s a global vehicle services and distribution business, to learn how the company is changing the way fleets and businesses do their work. Members of the Ford Pro leadership team, including Chief Marketing and Experience Officer Wanda Young, detailed how the business combines more than 100 years of experience, digital tools and data to help commercial customers with a one-stop shop that includes charging for EVs, financing and insurance.

Ford Pro’s services and support result in lower total cost of vehicle ownership and transform customers’ businesses through its fleet of gas, hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as with productivity services such as prognostics and telematics.

“We have a focus on the commercial customer that has not been there since we’ve been in the commercial business nearly 120 years,” Young said. “We are purpose-building for the commercial customer in a way that has never existed before. Ford Pro is different, and that’s what our ecosystem is about. … When we go out into the field, our commercial customers thank us for building this because this is exactly what they needed.”

Ford Pro is a “flywheel” that will be driving growth for the company, she added.

Learning about Ford Pro also included the hands-on experience of driving a fleet of Ford Transit and E-Transit vans around the Dearborn area to get the feel for how our commercial customers experience our products. Employees said they appreciated education about the commercial vehicle business, which executives have called Ford’s “secret weapon.”

Ryan Johnson, a business development manager, was familiar with FinSimple, the Ford Pro financing arm, through his work in Ford Credit, but the Capital Markets Day event exposed him to the wider array of services Ford Pro offers fleet customers.

“It was really, really intriguing to see the different segments of Ford Pro like service, charging, vehicles and financing, and what we’re doing with those customers and why it’s such an important aspect of our business,” he said. “It was really cool to see what’s going on there.”

Jim Baumbick, vice president, Product Development Operations and Quality, took employees through the strategy for Ford Blue, which will be relying on derivative models of iconic nameplates such as F-150, Mustang and Bronco. The situation is a “win-win,” he said, because the variants come at a lower cost because of their commonality with existing products and contribute a higher profit margin.

“We’re not going to take our foot off the gas,” Baumbick said, when referencing the Bronco family, which includes Bronco Sport, Bronco Everglades and Bronco Heritage Edition and counts half of its customers as new to the Ford brand. “We’re never going to rest when it comes to taking it to Jeep.”

Ford Blue is a growth business, Baumbick said, and investments have been narrowed to areas where the company knows it can win in the market. That success will continue to help fund capital for other segments of the business in Ford Pro and Model e.

After hearing from Baumbick, employees made their way to the track to ride along in the F-150 Raptor R and Mustang Dark Horse. For Charles Pinzone, a calibration engineer, the once-in-a-lifetime experiences reunited him with a product from his past. He helped design the exhaust manifolds on the pickup in the early days of the project.

“That’s not something a lot of people will get to do in their lifetime,” he said. “It’s cool to experience our products come to life after you work on (them) — and also getting to take a pretty substantial jump, he said. “I didn’t think we were going to get that much air.”

Employees also learned about the scope of Ford Model e and its work supporting the company’s other business units, including the technology and digital experiences that are helping Ford differentiate itself. Those features include over-the-air updates, BlueCruise hands-free driving technology and other advanced driver-assistance systems, as well as SYNC 4. They also learned more about battery chemistry, which goes into Ford’s EVs, and BlueCruise data engine, which is helping continue to improve the technology.

Following the presentation, employees were behind the wheel to drag race the F-150 Lightning against one another, reaching speeds of around 70 mph and racing the Mustang Mach-E through a lively autocross course. Beth Mocadlo, a business analyst in product development, wasn’t sure what to expect in her first drive in the popular electric pickup.

“I’ve never been in a truck that drives that smooth,” she said. “I’m a lead foot, too, so that was fun.”

After learning — and experiencing — how the Ford+ plan is coming together, employees said the overall event did a great job of connecting the different business segments to the strategy.   

“One of the biggest things you can see and feel at this event is how focused we are on delivering what our customers want and need,” Johnson said. “I’m really enthusiastic to see (that) in action.”

Click here to see more from Ford’s Capital Markets Day presentation, and stay tuned to @FordOnline and the @BlueOvalNow app for more exclusive opportunities like this.