Ford Wants Dealers to Focus on Commercial Repairs to Make Up For Lower Profits from Direct Sales

Ford is trying to get dealers on board with the changes that EVs will allegedly bring, including direct sales and a smaller role for dealerships, which have long stood as middlemen between Ford and its customers in the U.S. Dealers aren’t happy with the proposed changes that Ford and CEO Jim Farley are suggesting, with some going as far as to sue the carmaker, as Automotive News reports.

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But these changes don’t have to affect the bottom line of certain dealerships, according to Ford, which the carmaker wants to more or less turn into commercial service centers whose main source of revenue will be fixing commercial vehicles that plumbers, HVAC and construction workers rely on.

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Rather than making most of their money on sales, certain dealers will instead focus on the maintenance and repair of working vans and trucks, be they EVs or ICE-equipped. It’s a small consolation prize for dealers who feel that Ford is pushing them aside as it transitions to a different sales model. As if service departments weren’t already lucrative for dealers, given their high hourly rates.

But Ford is now eyeing the commercial sector to partially make up for the lower profits that direct sales could yield at dealers. Ford tells Auto News it expects to open 120 new “Elite Commercial Service Centers” in the coming years, which all must have 24 service bays or more, must be open at least 72 hours per week and must have a minimum of five mobile service vans.