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Speaker 1: Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2: I want to talk autos because Ford Pro is Ford's
Speaker 2: commercial vehicle unit. It's Ford's most profitable unit. It posted
Speaker 2: earnings before interest in taxes of one point three billion
Speaker 2: dollars in the first quarter, far more than any other
Speaker 2: unit at the company. We've got with us Matt Atkinson,
Speaker 2: executive director of Ford Pro North American Sales. He joins
Speaker 2: us from Detroit. Matt, good to have you with us.
Speaker 2: We learned this week that Ford halted its guidance and
Speaker 2: warned of a one point five billion dollar hit as
Speaker 2: a result of tariffs. If you think about the ford
Speaker 2: Pro business, especially in North America, what impact our tariffs
Speaker 2: having on it? And is it different than the rest
Speaker 2: of the company.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, thank you so much for having me and
Speaker 3: great to meet you. And it's an honor to be here,
Speaker 3: especially during National Small Business Week. You know, one of
Speaker 3: the things are really proud to say at Ford Pro
Speaker 3: is that every business every week is Small Business Week.
Speaker 3: But it's always nice when the country takes a step
Speaker 3: back to recognize the contribution of small business. And you know,
Speaker 3: one thing that is not lost on us and in
Speaker 3: these times is that you know, our success is directly
Speaker 3: tied to our customers success, and so in times of uncertainty,
Speaker 3: one of the things that we have found is that
Speaker 3: when you can be simple and transparent, that is what
Speaker 3: can help the country the most. And one of the
Speaker 3: biggest reasons why we've launched from America for America campaign
Speaker 3: because when a customer, especially a small business, walks into
Speaker 3: a Ford dealership, they know the price that they're going
Speaker 3: to get. They're going to pay what we pay our
Speaker 3: employee pricing, and we have found that has really helped
Speaker 3: small businesses navigate these uncertain times.
Speaker 2: How are your small businesses doing? How are your potential
Speaker 2: customers and your customers doing right now?
Speaker 3: Well, you know, in the we're coming off first quarter sales,
Speaker 3: as you just announced, it was our best pickup sale
Speaker 3: quarter in the last twenty years. And so you know
Speaker 3: is you and your audience probably know. You know, our
Speaker 3: full size pickup are the best in class that we've
Speaker 3: had sales leadership there in the last forty eight years,
Speaker 3: and so to have our best quarter at any given time,
Speaker 3: as I think a sign of strength, but certainly not
Speaker 3: one that we take for granted. But what small businesses
Speaker 3: are telling us right now is that you know, in
Speaker 3: these uncertain times, whether it's the transaction price that they're
Speaker 3: going to pay for their truck or their van, they
Speaker 3: also want to know that the company that they're choosing
Speaker 3: to do business with is going to stick with them,
Speaker 3: and especially for small business where they're operating fleets where
Speaker 3: time is money. We're proud to offer a service network
Speaker 3: across the country, seven thirty certified our commercial vehicle centers,
Speaker 3: sixty five national service Elite centers that are opening up
Speaker 3: across the country. And that is what customers, especially small business,
Speaker 3: tells us they need in these times is they can't
Speaker 3: afford any missteps. They can't afford to have that vehicle down.
Speaker 3: And it's probably one of the reasons why Ford van
Speaker 3: and trucks, you know, continue to be operated by more
Speaker 3: small business than any other automaker.
Speaker 2: Look, I think the results that I mentioned kind of
Speaker 2: speak for themselves that it's the most profitable unit at Ford.
Speaker 2: I still, though, I think there are a lot of
Speaker 2: questions about the impact of tariffs, especially given what we
Speaker 2: heard from Ford earlier this week. Do you think that
Speaker 2: tariffs like, what is the impact that tariffs have on
Speaker 2: your business versus the greater Ford business?
Speaker 3: Look it. You know, the customers in small business can
Speaker 3: hear a lot right now, including from us with earnings.
Speaker 3: But I think one important thing they need to know
Speaker 3: is that we have plenty of inventory on the ground
Speaker 3: today and all of that inventory, from our cars all
Speaker 3: the way up through our trucks, from all of our powertrains,
Speaker 3: from gas, diesel, hybrid, even electric, all qualify for this
Speaker 3: promotion and if you didn't catch it, that runs through
Speaker 3: the fourth of July. So despite these uncertain times, like
Speaker 3: I mentioned before, what they need to know is that
Speaker 3: when they're in the market for a vehicle and their
Speaker 3: business is looking to upgrade or replace, Ford pro and
Speaker 3: our Ford dealers are going to be there for them
Speaker 3: and can offer them that confidence in the marketplace.
Speaker 2: Ford said that it's going to produce one hundred thousand
Speaker 2: super duty pickups at a plan in Oakville, Ontario that
Speaker 2: would start next year. Given what we've heard from President
Speaker 2: Trump and has pushed to have more US manufacturing through
Speaker 2: his tariffs, is there a chance that Ford could instead
Speaker 2: build those trucks at one of its US plants.
Speaker 3: Well, look, one of the things that we talk about
Speaker 3: even with our dealers about future investments is that, you know,
Speaker 3: it's nice to have demand for our pickup trucks. And
Speaker 3: we've had that sales demand for quite some time now,
Speaker 3: especially coming out of a supply strain supply constraint environment
Speaker 3: like we saw over the last couple of years, and
Speaker 3: so we're going to look at all options that are
Speaker 3: on the table. But we know what we're finding right
Speaker 3: now is that when customers walk in looking for a
Speaker 3: super duty truck today, you know we are winning in
Speaker 3: the marketplace because of the message that we have. And
Speaker 3: again it comes back to that simplicity and transparency and
Speaker 3: that's one of the reasons that gives us so much
Speaker 3: confidence today and into the future.
Speaker 2: And look like again, the numbers sort of speak for themselves.
Speaker 2: You guys dominate when it comes to commercial truck and
Speaker 2: the van business in the US. You have about a
Speaker 2: forty percent share. That's what you've established. Investors want to
Speaker 2: know about growth. Where will that future growth come from?
Speaker 3: Well, look, we have no signs of no intentions of
Speaker 3: letting our foot off the gas. We have had leadership
Speaker 3: in that space for the last forty years. In the
Speaker 3: commercial space overall, as I mentioned, our full sized pickups
Speaker 3: have led in overall sales for the last forty eight
Speaker 3: years going on forty nine. In fact, in our forty
Speaker 3: ninth year, our lead has even grown versus what it
Speaker 3: was at this point in your forty eight of leadership.
Speaker 3: So what small business and customers are can feel confident
Speaker 3: in is that the franchise of our F series pickup
Speaker 3: trucks is really important to us, and we're always going
Speaker 3: to give them the best, most capable pickup truck that
Speaker 3: is on the market.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, we think a lot about services in telematics.
Speaker 2: That's certainly been an opportunity for companies to grow when
Speaker 2: it comes to software as a service. Ford Pro has
Speaker 2: done well expanding its subscription telematics business to provide logistics
Speaker 2: and other connected services to commercial customers. What is the
Speaker 2: future of that business and then how can forward translate
Speaker 2: that success to retail customers who maybe buy a Bronco
Speaker 2: or an F one fifty.
Speaker 3: Right, you know, it's one of the areas that we're
Speaker 3: we maybe even most excited about in the future of
Speaker 3: ford Pro. You know, we are the modems that are
Speaker 3: being activated in our vehicles are growing every day. We're
Speaker 3: seeing lots of benefit from subscription services that are connecting
Speaker 3: those vehicles and helping provide more efficiencies to our customers.
Speaker 3: You know, one of the things that we benefit from,
Speaker 3: as I said before, is that small businesses purchase FOD
Speaker 3: trucks and vans more than any other automaker. And that
Speaker 3: history that lessons, the lessons that we've learned over time
Speaker 3: help inspire our future innovations. And what small businesses continue
Speaker 3: to tell us is that if we can help provide
Speaker 3: to them more services, more subscriptions to help prevent their
Speaker 3: time being out of market, then then that is a
Speaker 3: value story for them that they want to invest in.
Speaker 3: And so we're going You're going to continue to see
Speaker 3: new news from us into the future, and when that
Speaker 3: can complement the strong history and heras that we have
Speaker 3: in our products, we think that's a real winning story
Speaker 3: for us and for our customers.
Speaker 2: So, Matt, when you think about the small businesses that
Speaker 2: you sell to, really the backbone of the US economy,
Speaker 2: I'm curious how they're embracing evs like the battery powered
Speaker 2: transit than the electric f one fifty lightning? How is
Speaker 2: that happening among commercial customers right now? Like, how is
Speaker 2: selling an EV to a commercial customer different than selling
Speaker 2: maybe the like a mock e to my dad for example,
Speaker 2: which he bought.
Speaker 3: Sure, yeah, no, look at And you know, anytime you
Speaker 3: introduce something new, and we have a history of you know,
Speaker 3: introducing most of the country to automobiles in the first place,
Speaker 3: anytime you introduce something new, you have to be able
Speaker 3: to explain it. And I think what we're finding, especially
Speaker 3: with small businesses that you know, they have very unique
Speaker 3: needs when it comes to powertrain offerings, and you know
Speaker 3: from the size and space that they can store the
Speaker 3: vehicles to how they can use them. And one of
Speaker 3: the things that have resonated the most for us is
Speaker 3: everybody's interested in fuel economy savings. And we just launched
Speaker 3: last week at a conference in California, our consultancy service
Speaker 3: that's going to help small business take advantage of opportunities
Speaker 3: in rebates to go purchase vehicles so that if that
Speaker 3: if electric is of importance to them and they want
Speaker 3: they want to make that investment, we can help them
Speaker 3: maximize the amount of money they can get from federal
Speaker 3: or state rebates and and look, regardless of what a
Speaker 3: small business needs, one of the proof points and pride
Speaker 3: points that we have is that we offer the power
Speaker 3: of choice, gas, diesel, hybrid, electric. We're there for fleets.
Speaker 3: We have the largest fleet in the United States and
Speaker 3: the largest electric fleet in the United States. And so
Speaker 3: whatever their need is, we want to be there for
Speaker 3: them to help sell service and support through the telematics
Speaker 3: and subscription services that we talked about a moment ago.
Speaker 2: Nat, I appreciate you taking some time in joining us.
Speaker 2: That's Matt Atkinson, ford Pro, executive director, North American Sales
Speaker 2: for ford Pro.