Ford Motor Co.’s CFO said April 13 that the growth of electric vehicles and the larger amount of software and electronics in them are changing the economics of the automotive life cycle and that Ford’s commercial division will show the company’s consumer business how to best capitalize on that.

Speaking to the Bank of America Securities 2022 Global Automotive Summit, John Lawler said increasingly technology-connected vehicles will help Ford and other auto makers extend the length of customer relationships and retain more maintenance revenues. The company last spring packaged its commercial manufacturing and services – think telematics, fleet management, charging management and other offerings – business under the Ford Pro brand and said it expects sales from that group to grow to $45 billion in 2025 from $27 billion in 2019. Lawler said much of that growth won’t come from traditional sources.

“If somebody would have said to me five years ago, ‘How is the last 10 years of your career going to work out?’ Well, it’s going to be capital-intensive, margins are going to be difficult, those who have the freshest lineup are going to have an advantage for a period of time and we’re going to continue to battle it out,” Lawler told conference attendees. “That’s completely changed now with these connected platforms, services and experiences […] Ford Pro is going to be the area where we see that first.”

For the full story about Lawler's comments, visit our sister brand IndustryWeek.