| Ford and Vizion are deepening their working relationship this year to bring Ford Connected-Car technologies to the mainstream.
Their partnership goes back to 2008, when they started working together to develop better ways to approach collision repair for Ford customers, insurers and the Ford Accident Repair network.
The integration of digital self-service technologies via the Vizion Triage and Cortex systems has greatly enhanced the customer journey, and generated more than £60m per year in revenue for the Ford Accident Repair network.
But this year the collaboration sees the beginning of Ford Connected-Car technologies in combination with digital self-services and improved coverage from the Ford network, which continues to expand in both size and range of service.
Greater connection to the vehicle and customer provides enhanced collision-type identification and deployment capabilities putting customer choice and insurer requirements relevant to accident type and location, at the heart of the decision-making process.
Ford, Vizion and WRC have begun working with the network, along with AutoFlow as part of a transformation and expansion project.
This initiative will move at pace and see the Ford Accident Repair Centre network become the Ford Certified Collision Network, aligning it to Ford’s global approach.
There will be an increase in Ford resource to ensure all Ford sites get the management, information and support they need during this phase, which will create significant opportunities to both existing FARC repair centres and new entrants from the wider industry as the network expands.
Chris McKie, managing director of Vizion Network and WRC, said: “This is truly ground-breaking. The size and impact of this project by Ford is enormous. We have been working closely with this technology since its inception; it is massively exciting and the realisation of a personal goal for our businesses and systems to be playing a part in this ground-breaking initiative.
“In 1984 we saw the first mobile phone, in 1991 the internet became publicly available and now in 2020, Ford makes Connected-Car mainstream.”
Further announcements will follow in the next few months, with the new programme expected to move at pace and begin to deliver on objectives by the summer. |
