NEW ORLEANS — The evolution of shared mobility services has forced Ford Motor Credit Co. to think outside of the box, Dale Jones, the captive’s executive vice president of the Americas, said during the American Financial Services Association’s 2017 Vehicle Finance Conference yesterday.
“It’s caused us to rethink and change our paradigm, in terms of what products and services we have,” he said. “We have been stuck with the traditional products for a long period of time, and it’s making us rethink that.”
The captive also shifted it’s thinking around experimentation as well, Jones said.
“The old way of thinking was, you only piloted something if you were certain it was going to work, it was a precursor to a determined rollout,” he said. “I think we have to challenge our way of thinking if you pilot something, you have to be willing to say it didn’t work, and that’s ok, its not a disgrace.”
For example, Ford Credit ended its Austin-Texas based shared-lease program — originally launched as a centerpiece of its mobility efforts back in March — without signing up one group, Communications Manager Margaret Mellott told Auto Finance News earlier this month.
The captive did glean value from consumer concerns for future mobility programs through the experience, she said, but has no plans to launch another shared-lease program in the foreseeable future, she added.
“As an industry, I think we’re open minded and we’re challenging ourselves, and we’re working with our dealers about what may work for the consumer,” Dale said on the panel yesterday.
