Ford R&D here to stay

Ford has highlighted its commitment to research and development in Australia, following the announcement in May that it will cease manufacturing here by October 2016.

In an unprecedented move designed to underline its ongoing presence in the Australian market, the Blue Oval hosted around 800 staff, dealers, media, customers and VIPs to its ‘Go Further: A vision for Australia” future product presentation at Sydney’s Fox Studios today.

While the Melbourne motor show did not go ahead as planned in July, Ford also staged its own mini-motorshow to display a range of current and future models, including the EcoSport mini-SUV (due here in December), two new Transit vans (early next year) and the redesigned Mondeo (second half of 2014).

The product highlight of the event was the world debut of the Everest concept, which previews the all-new seven-seat off-road SUV that was developed in Australia and will go on sale here within two years, the upgraded 2014 Falcon’s appearance was limited to another teaser video.

Highlighting the gravity of the event in the Ford world, a number of global Ford executives made surprise appearances, led by President and CEO Alan Mulally and CEO Mark Fields.

Group Vice-President and President of Asia Pacific, David Schoch, restated Ford’s plan to continue its R&D operations in Geelong, Lara and Broadmeadows after production of the Falcon and Territory ceases in 2016 or earlier.

Ford may have lost $430 million in the last two years, but Schoch said Ford was the largest investor in automotive R&D, with almost $2 billion dollars spent in the past six years.

“A critical part of our One Ford plan has been transforming our global product development business,” he said.

“We are leveraging our global scale to accelerate the goal of our complete founding of cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles with affordable and smart technologies that our customers want and value around the world.

“Today we have almost 1100 very talented designers and engineers in Australia, and their role in our future goals is critical -- not just in Australia and New Zealand and not just for the Asia Pacific region, but for Ford globally.

“Our Australian team is working in a fully integrated and harmonious way with our other three product development centres around the world in Europe, North America and South America

“All of them are involved in the complete spectrum of product development, from research to design and from vehicle engineering all the way through to the ultimate product lines.

“For the second consecutive year Ford has invested more than $200 million in R&D facilities. This brings Ford’s total R&D investment in Australia over the past six years to $1.9 billion.

“We are the largest automotive R&D investor in Australia.

“In addition, our Australian team continues to make a substantial contribution to the One Ford plan by designing and engineering great products for the world, like the Ford Figo, the most awarded car in India, and of course the award-winning Ford Ranger.”

motoring.com.au's coverage of Ford Australia's Go Further announcement