General Motors (GM) has launched a new business unit called GM Envolve. This unit is aimed at the profitable vehicle business of Ford Motor Co. Like Ford Pro, GM Envolve is dedicated to large corporate and government fleet customers and will work more closely with other GM businesses. Each large fleet customer receives a GM Envolve Account Executive who works with the customer, Chevrolet, GMC, and other GM businesses. These include OnStar Business Solutions, GM Energy, and Bright Drop. Both GM Energy and Bright Drop are new business units established by GM in the past few years. GM Envolve aims to be a one-stop-shop for customers regarding everything they need to run their business.
Ed Pepper, US vice president of GM Envolve, said that customers want a single sales touch point and a simpler customer experience. GM Envolve has acquired 300 major customers, companies with more than 300 vehicles, to switch to their services. Pepper said that GM Envolve works with existing customers to provide more solutions and is also conquering customers from competitors. Cox Automotive estimates that Ford and GM sell similar numbers of vehicles to commercial vehicles. However, Ford sells twice as many vehicles to government vehicles as GM.
The primary goal of GM Envolve and Ford Pro is not only to sell more vehicles but also to develop relationships that enable the sale of other products and services. Some of these include vehicle charging software and energy equipment from GM Energy and auto and truck parts from GM and AC Delco for GM. By leveraging existing vehicle relationships, these new business units are expected to bring additional revenue to their respective parent companies. In contrast to Ford Pro, GM Envolve is not expected to be profitable.