From Wednesday, FordPass users in the UK will be able to rent a van on an hourly basis at preferential rates and by simply tapping a button within the FordPass app.
FordPass is the foundation on which Ford aims to build its suite of future digital mobility and personal service offerings. And, since its official US launch at the 2016 Detroit International Auto Show, the company has been slowly expanding its capabilities -- from providing navigation services that factor in all types of public and personal transport, to being able to order fast food or pre-book and pay for parking -- and the territories in which the service is available.
The latest feature is specific to UK users and is designed to take the hassle out of holiday-season shopping by giving users access to a fleet of commercial vehicles strategically located in the parking lots of the UK's most popular home improvement stores plus at branches of Costco and Ikea.
"Purchases made at homeware and garden stores are often large and difficult to transport. Arranging Hertz 24/7 van hire by the hour through the FordPass app gives our customers an alternative to traditional delivery services, saving them time and money," said Joerg Ullrich, Advanced Consumer Experience Marketing at Ford Motor Company.
It's a comparatively simple new feature yet one that could make a huge difference to Ford customers in the UK who are more likely to drive a subcompact Fiesta or compact hatchback like that Focus than any other Ford model.
But it's also a perfect demonstration of the huge benefits that looking to the digital rather than physical world to improve the "ownership experience" can bring.
Not only are digital offers much simpler to create and launch, they can be tailored specifically to very different types of driver in specific countries or regions.
And Ford is not alone in bringing digital added value to the physical car ownership experience.
This week, GM launched GM Marketplace, a suite of services, including the ability to order from Starbucks, make restaurant reservations or pre-pay for fuel that will be embedded directly into the infotainment systems of its cars.
While earlier this year, Jaguar launched the world's first integrated fuel payment app that enables drivers to fill up and pay for fuel at any Shell station simply by tapping on the infotainment screen -- no need to get out of the car and queue up at a counter.
And while FordPass is currently only available as a smartphone app in Europe, Ford also confirmed on Wednesday that it will be bringing the suite of services to the dashboards of European cars starting 2018.
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