Ford Pro survey finds businesses not making use of vehicle data

Ford Pro E-Transit telematics interface (Photo: Ford Motor)

Ford Pro, the commercial fleet division of Ford Motor, has reported that businesses are failing to maximise the value of data generated by their commercial vehicles, which could save those companies both time and money.

The vehicle OEM carried out a survey of 3,000 van drivers and 150 fleet managers across the US and Europe to ‘enhance understanding of customer behaviour, attitudes towards vehicle data’.

Related information and conclusions were presented in the ‘Closing the Commercial Vehicle Data Gap’ report. It found the only 1 in 10 small business drivers were well informed when it came to how data could help productivity.

More than one third of drivers and 25% of fleet managers are not monitoring data on a daily basis, which could mean they are missing significant opportunities.

A primary concern, it was found, is breach of data privacy regulations.

More specifically, three key gaps were identified:

- 46% of van drivers and 25% of fleet managers do not make daily use of vehicle health data, despite keeping vehicles in operation being a main priority.

- 32% of van drivers and 57% of fleet managers know ‘a lot’ about how their data can help save time and money. This falls to 10% for small businesses.

- Data privacy is a concern for 94% of van drivers and 97% of fleet managers. This is data privacy related to concerns about security of the transmitted information.

“Connected vehicle data is the lifeblood of commercial vehicle efficiency. Like a fitness tracker for your fleet, it helps optimise vehicle and driver performance by providing both real-time updates and cumulative data for deeper analysis and richer insight,” said Hans Schep, general manager, Ford Pro, Europe.

Ford stated that about 29.5 million vans are operating on European roads and by 2028 almost all of these will be fitted with modems.

Ford Pro estimates that businesses can reduce downtime by 60% by using smarter vehicle maintenance and monitoring.

While drivers and fleet managers are failing to take advantage of vehicle data, Ford has reported that in Q2 2025 there was a 24% year-on-year increase in paid subscriptions, with 757,000 customers.

With regards to data privacy, Ford Pro earned the ISO 27001 certification in 2025, the internationally recognised standard for how a company should protect and manage customer data. Ford does not sell customer data and is also the only manufacturer to have an icon that shows when a driver is sharing data, which appears on the vehicle screen.

“Data security isn’t just a feature at Ford Pro; it’s a foundational principle,” said Jeremy Gould, director, Ford Pro Intelligence, Europe. “The industry needs to better explain the true value represented by today’s connected vehicle data.”

The full ‘Closing the Commercial Vehicle Data Gap’ report can be downloaded from this link (click here).