1
NEWS
Local Ford R&D not at risk
Asia-Pacific product development boss insists survival does not depend on increased government supportA productivity commission rejection of Ford's call for more taxpayer funding for its Australian research and development facilities would not lead to their closure says the company's Asia-Pacific product development chief.
"Absolutely categorically not," Trevor Worthington told motoring.com.au at last week's Mustang global reveal in Sydney.
"We have made a huge investment in R&D in Australia. We have put our money where our mouth is for the last 12 years and at the end of the day we are competing against global product development centres that have various levels of government support and all we are suggesting is we want to be on an even playing field.
"This isn't about will we or won't we... what we don't want do is just lose out in the future that is all."
Worthington, an Australian who worked his way up through product development at Ford Australia before being promoted internationally also expressed his personal sadness at the closure of Ford's local manufacturing in 2016 and the end of the locally-designed and built Falcon and Territory – cars he was intrinsically involved with.
"I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't disappointed. But life is what it is. The economic factors are what they are. I absolutely agree with the decision, in the current economic environment it just doesn't make sense to continue building the car."
But he said it was vital that the "intellectual part" of the industry be retained in Australia, be it car, truck or airplane design.
"If we can't make that work in Australia then what are we left with? We have to make it work."
Additional assistance would aid the Ford R&D facilities, which include the You Yangs testing ground and facilities in Melbourne and Geelong and employ about 1200 people, in the constant battle to compete against other global Ford R&D centres for work.
"It's a question of how do you make it thrive and how do you make it grow," Worthington said.
"We don't just want it to be in the background, our view is we want to make it a really robust centre, we want to continue and invest... We want to make sure we more than fill those facilities. We want to grow our viability and expertise because that is what everyone else is doing.
"We want to take on the best people, continue to invest in the best tools."
Worthington acknowledged the disadvantages the Australia centre currently faced with the high cost of the Australian dollar reducing competitiveness and the time zone disadvantage that put us out of sync with Western Europe and the USA.
And although he admitted he was unaware of a Ford R&D facility thriving in a region that no longer supported manufacturing, he insisted such a model could work.
"The important thing about product development is it needs to be an activity that needs to be involved in the whole life cycle of the car; to understand who the customers are, what their specific requirements are, to design, engineer and validate and then go and launch the product and see how successful it is. That model can work anywhere in the world.
"We have shown that with T6; the Ranger engineered in Australia, built in South America, Thailand and South Africa. So the model works, you just have to have that connection between where you launch and who the customers are and what you have learned from that experience, so you can bring that back and improve the next one.
"That plant could be down the road like it is in Broadmeadows or in Pretoria, it doesn't really matter. The important thing is the engineers and designers we have are exposed to that whole process."
Worthington also said he was confident the Australian facilities could survive the rising tide of Chinese and Indian automotive expertise and the inevitable growth of R&D in those two booming economies.
"We have an expertise that they just don't have," Worthington said. "We have the ability to design platforms, suspensions and engines. We have a very broad capability which I am sure sometime in the future they will get.
"But right now we need to make hay while the sun shines, we need to make sure the tools and processes that we use are as efficient as they can be. We have the smartest people, the best processes to protect ourselves for when, inevitably, some of these countries that have dreams of developing the capability we have got, are there.
"Personally, having lived in China for the last four years, I think their ability to do that is probably further away than they think. It takes a long time, because you need to have teams that have been through that cycle and have learned that cycle a number of times before they can – using water skiing language – up and plane."
Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...
Don't forget to register to comment on this article.
Share this article
Written byBruce Newton
See all articlesOur team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Subscribe todaySell your car with Instant Offer™
Like trade-in but price is regularly higher
1. Get a free Instant Offer™ online in minutes2. An official local dealer will inspect your car3. Finalise the details and get paid the next business day
Get a free Instant Offer
Related articles
Disclaimer
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Love every move.
Buy it. Sell it.Love it.
®Contact
Advertise with us
Local marketplaces
International marketplaces
Scan to download the carsales app
Want more info? Here’s our app landing page
App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo
are trademarks of Google LLC.