DEARBORN—Ford Motor Co. announced a joint venture with the security services provider ADT called Canopy that combines ADT’s professional security monitoring and Ford’s AI-driven video camera technology to help customers strengthen security of new and existing vehicles across automotive brands.
“The combination of our technologies and our deep security experience creates a new category of protection for work and personal vehicles,” said Elliot Cohen, ADT chief business development officer. “Vehicles represent the second-most-valuable asset for consumers, and helping to protect them extends ADT’s safe, smart, and sustainable solutions far beyond the home.”
Canopy plans to launch multi-sensor security systems with available professional monitoring early next year. The first products to be manufactured and sold will be available in the United States and the United Kingdom for the industry’s highest-volume commercial and retail pickups and vans, including the Ford F-150, F-150 Lightning, Transit vans and E-Transit, and will be easily installable by customers to protect expensive work and recreational equipment.
“Thieves have been even more active during the pandemic and know business owners store valuable equipment in vehicles, often hauling more than $50,000 of gear,” said Franck Louis=Victor, vice president of the Ford New Business Platform. “Canopy is here for those who’ve had enough of thefts that threaten their livelihoods. Key to Ford’s software-led transformation are new ideas such as Canopy and collaborating with other innovators such as ADT, which brings to vehicle security their leadership protecting families, homes, and businesses.”
The FBI estimates that stolen work equipment cost more than $7.4 billion in 2020 in the U.S., and theft of valuable work equipment is believed to be underestimated in stolen vehicle reports. Small business owners face even greater opportunity costs with the deferral or loss of jobs while replacing stolen items.
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