Ford Expands Mobile Service Capacity With Escape Vehicles To Offer Customers More Convenient Options

[Administrator]

FORD EXPANDS MOBILE SERVICE CAPACITY WITH ESCAPE VEHICLES TO OFFER CUSTOMERS MORE CONVENIENT OPTIONS

MAY 30, 2023 | DEARBORN

• An estimated 1,000 Escape vehicles will enter Ford Mobile Service fleet nationwide by year end
• Escape vehicles will be equipped to provide light maintenance and repairs, software updates and the capability to resolve up to 69% of current recalls
• Customer use of Ford remote services has increased 45 percent since Q4 of 2022

DEARBORN, Mich. May 30, 2023 – With increased demand for remote services, Ford today announced it’s expanding its Mobile Service program to now include Escape SUVs, allowing customers at its smaller-volume dealers more convenient options for vehicle service.

Ford is targeting to have nearly 1,000 Escape SUVs to be used as Mobile Service vehicles by year’s end, giving smaller-volume dealers a more affordable way to deliver Mobile Service and larger dealers a way to supplement their existing fleets. The Escape also frees up service bays at dealerships and gives customers more convenient choices on how and where they want vehicle service.

Customer use of Ford remote services has increased 45 percent since Q4 of 2022.

“Adding the Escape to the mobile maintenance fleet now gives our smaller-volume dealers the ability to provide this convenient service to more customers,” said Todd Rabourn, North America Regional CX Director, Experience Implementation. “These Escape vehicles are hitting the road to provide everything from software updates to light repairs, plus offering the ability to accelerate how we resolve current recalls.”

Participation in Ford’s Mobile Service program is voluntary, and once enrolled, dealers can utilize a 22/23MY Escape they have in stock or order a unit. Exterior colors of Oxford White, Star White & Iconic Silver along with a specialized wrap will indicate that the vehicle is a Mobile Service unit. All vehicles in the program must have embedded Wi-Fi or have means for internet access.

Each Escape operating as a Mobile Service vehicle will be upfitted with a jumper cable charger, inverter and harness, and tools provided by the dealer.
“We already have one mobile service van in operation, and it’s on the road constantly, doing light repairs and recall work,” said Carm Scarpace, dealer partner, Westfield Ford. “Adding an Escape to our fleet is really helping us serve customers faster and more efficiently on their terms.”

Scarpace shared that providing mobile service has created a new culture within the dealership in how they approach customer experience. Their Escape mobile service unit is currently helping to resolve up to 10 recalls a day for customers.

Participating Ford dealers offer complimentary remote service including Pickup & Delivery and mobile service to customers.

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[FischAutoTechGarten]

Looks like a good step in the right direction! Kind of a Safelite Window repair model...

 

[jwilson]

Safelite Window

Great, now I can't get that commercial jingle out of my head.

 

[WNYEscapee]

It's great that we can free up a service bay in the shop, but you also lose technicians from the shop too. Having an open lift doesn't help if there's nobody there to fill it. It's become very difficult for many dealerships to find qualified technicians, and half their time out on the road -- if not realistically more than that -- is spent driving to and from the customer's location to perform the repair. That's a lot of productivity lost in your shop in the name of being more convenient for the customer; especially for some of these recalls which take only 15 - 30 minutes to perform.
Then, as we have encountered, what if the customer is just ignorant and decides to change their plans for the day and just takes off without notifying the dealership that they need to reschedule their onsite service? Again, another loss of productivity in the shop without anything to show for it on the remote side too. It's not so bad if the shop is slow, but when you're slamming and backed up, it's costly in many other ways.

 

[bgn]

It's great that we can free up a service bay in the shop, but you also lose technicians from the shop too. Having an open lift doesn't help if there's nobody there to fill it. It's become very difficult for many dealerships to find qualified technicians, and half their time out on the road -- if not realistically more than that -- is spent driving to and from the customer's location to perform the repair. That's a lot of productivity lost in your shop in the name of being more convenient for the customer; especially for some of these recalls which take only 15 - 30 minutes to perform.
Then, as we have encountered, what if the customer is just ignorant and decides to change their plans for the day and just takes off without notifying the dealership that they need to reschedule their onsite service? Again, another loss of productivity in the shop without anything to show for it on the remote side too. It's not so bad if the shop is slow, but when you're slamming and backed up, it's costly in many other ways.

Yeah, I don't see why this would be popular with dealers.

 

[Hardening2753]

It's great that we can free up a service bay in the shop, but you also lose technicians from the shop too. Having an open lift doesn't help if there's nobody there to fill it. It's become very difficult for many dealerships to find qualified technicians, and half their time out on the road -- if not realistically more than that -- is spent driving to and from the customer's location to perform the repair. That's a lot of productivity lost in your shop in the name of being more convenient for the customer; especially for some of these recalls which take only 15 - 30 minutes to perform.
Then, as we have encountered, what if the customer is just ignorant and decides to change their plans for the day and just takes off without notifying the dealership that they need to reschedule their onsite service? Again, another loss of productivity in the shop without anything to show for it on the remote side too. It's not so bad if the shop is slow, but when you're slamming and backed up, it's costly in many other ways.

Dealerships are losing technicians because they treat them like shit and pay them garbage. They treat him like they don't know what they're talking about and like they need constant supervision. Having this mobile service isn't going to do anything to to solve a crisis of bad management

 

[WNYEscapee]

Dealerships are losing technicians because they treat them like shit and pay them garbage. They treat him like they don't know what they're talking about and like they need constant supervision. Having this mobile service isn't going to do anything to to solve a crisis of bad management

There's a lot of yes and no answers here. Not all dealerships pay their technicians dirt, some pay them exceptionally well.
Not every job in a dealership is considered a skill job, though most of them are. At some places they think positions can be filled with anyone off the street, and I've seen time and time again where it's led to frustration, chaos, and monetary losses. And if you're in a department. like parts, where writing off that loss at the end of the month affects your paycheck, it's real money. Yet management doesn't want to spend the money for qualified candidates to fill open positions and it costs the rest of the department in terms of their income, reduces morale, and generally makes the department much less efficient.

I used to be a machinist. I made machine parts for Ford and GM, parts for equipment for Trico, die components and parts for electric motors for Westinghouse and GE, parts for aerospace/defense companies; and I'd still happily be doing this if it weren't for injuries suffered on the job which prevented me from staying in this field as a career.

As the customers have changed, I rarely enjoy doing this job. Customers nowadays are more rude, unwilling to help you help them, and sometimes even threatening because sometimes you're not capable of helping them with their needs. I just don't need this! Especially when I can go across the road and get a job in fast food paying me a higher hourly rate than I earn on this job with monthly commission, and still work quite a few hours less doing it.

 

[WNYEscapee]

Yeah, I don't see why this would be popular with dealers.

I've been told the reimbursement from Ford to perform recalls/warranty work is pretty good; but again, you're still dealing with the cost of this vehicle, operating it, and a good part of its time not performing any work. And during months of the year where this vehicle cannot be operated -- like during a good chunk of winter, it's generating nothing to your bottom line.

 

[thev8man]

FORD EXPANDS MOBILE SERVICE CAPACITY WITH ESCAPE VEHICLES TO OFFER CUSTOMERS MORE CONVENIENT OPTIONS

MAY 30, 2023 | DEARBORN

• An estimated 1,000 Escape vehicles will enter Ford Mobile Service fleet nationwide by year end
• Escape vehicles will be equipped to provide light maintenance and repairs, software updates and the capability to resolve up to 69% of current recalls
• Customer use of Ford remote services has increased 45 percent since Q4 of 2022

DEARBORN, Mich. May 30, 2023 – With increased demand for remote services, Ford today announced it’s expanding its Mobile Service program to now include Escape SUVs, allowing customers at its smaller-volume dealers more convenient options for vehicle service.

Ford is targeting to have nearly 1,000 Escape SUVs to be used as Mobile Service vehicles by year’s end, giving smaller-volume dealers a more affordable way to deliver Mobile Service and larger dealers a way to supplement their existing fleets. The Escape also frees up service bays at dealerships and gives customers more convenient choices on how and where they want vehicle service.

Customer use of Ford remote services has increased 45 percent since Q4 of 2022.

“Adding the Escape to the mobile maintenance fleet now gives our smaller-volume dealers the ability to provide this convenient service to more customers,” said Todd Rabourn, North America Regional CX Director, Experience Implementation. “These Escape vehicles are hitting the road to provide everything from software updates to light repairs, plus offering the ability to accelerate how we resolve current recalls.”

Participation in Ford’s Mobile Service program is voluntary, and once enrolled, dealers can utilize a 22/23MY Escape they have in stock or order a unit. Exterior colors of Oxford White, Star White & Iconic Silver along with a specialized wrap will indicate that the vehicle is a Mobile Service unit. All vehicles in the program must have embedded Wi-Fi or have means for internet access.

Each Escape operating as a Mobile Service vehicle will be upfitted with a jumper cable charger, inverter and harness, and tools provided by the dealer.
“We already have one mobile service van in operation, and it’s on the road constantly, doing light repairs and recall work,” said Carm Scarpace, dealer partner, Westfield Ford. “Adding an Escape to our fleet is really helping us serve customers faster and more efficiently on their terms.”

Scarpace shared that providing mobile service has created a new culture within the dealership in how they approach customer experience. Their Escape mobile service unit is currently helping to resolve up to 10 recalls a day for customers.

Participating Ford dealers offer complimentary remote service including Pickup & Delivery and mobile service to customers.

Wow

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