Ford's Ted Cannis Retiring

Back in 2021, Ford split up its operations into three separate divisions. Ford Pro, Ford Model e, and Ford Blue. Ted Cannis, who I’ve called automotive’s “Hair Force One” on more than one occasion, was placed in charge of the Ford Pro division. Cannis is retiring at the end of September.

Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement, "Ted's energy and passion for customers has been instrumental in building Ford Pro into a business that's tracking toward $70 billion in revenue this year – a Fortune 100-size company in its own right."

Cannis has done a lot in his time with Ford, including getting the E-Transit out the door and into the hands of customers. When the company announced the van, there were many pundits who said the range wasn’t enough, the packaging wasn’t good enough, and that Ford was basically wasting money.

I drove the van in Sonoma County very early on, and guess what? It’s pretty good.

When commenters on that video suggested that in the real world, when loaded with cargo, the van would be completely useless, I asked Ford to borrow one fully loaded up with GVWR maximum and test it.

And guess what? It still did pretty good!

Cannis’s point, the whole time, was that Ford has telematics data from commercial vehicles for years. There are modems in every new Ford, basically, and that aggregate data is valuable to Ford Pro’s team. They know how many miles people are actually driving a day, not how many miles they THINK they drive a day.

When talking about EVs, like I’ve been doing for years over on EV Pulse, the battle is always about electric vehicle range. People believe they need a car with 600 miles of electric range when they’re driving less than 40 a day.

Considering how difficult it is for me to try to communicate that to people, I can only imagine some of the conversations Cannis had.

Despite those challenges, Cannis was able to get a lot done. I even once claimed that he, along with the rest of the Ford Pro team, were quite literally going to save the power grid for electric vehicles.

Cannis is also, and I think he’d be fine with me saying this, a big nerd. He’s a massive fan of Dungeons & Dragons and some of the geeky conversations I’ve had with him on programs are some of the geekiest I’ve had in my life. It’s safe to say I’ve enjoyed programs and events where he’s been present.

At 58 years old, it might be a bit early for retirement. I can only speculate why he’s choosing now to leave Ford, but I’d like to think it’s for good reasons and that he has something lined up that he’s always wanted to do. Of course, he’s also summited Kilimanjaro so what else is there?

Personally, and that’s what this thing is all about (my opinion), I think this is a big loss for Ford. With the company massively changing its approach to EVs and making news for reasons that don’t involve selling cars, Cannis is someone I believe who could keep the Ford Pro division focused and profitable.

He’s someone I’ll miss. He was always approachable, had something intelligent to say, and really seemed to “get it.” Andrew Frick, president of Ford Blue, is also taking over Ford Pro on an interim basis until new leadership is announced.

More Goodies

💻 If you enjoyed reading this – and I hope you did – would you consider passing it along to a friend? The more subscribers I have, the more in-depth reporting and analysis I can bring you.

☕️ If you found this useful, consider buying me a coffee! I’m an independent journalist and every dollar received directly funds this project.

🗞️ Have a news tip you want to send? Learn more about sending news tips and secure communications with me by clicking right here.

📧 If you have a press release you want to send, have general feedback, or want to tell me how you really feel about me, you can email directly at [email protected].