Wider role for Carbon Revolution wheels

The left-hook-only Shelby Mustang is officially ruled out for Australia.

But the high-tech, low-fat wheels underpinning the steroidal pony car are built by specialist manufacturer Carbon Revolution in Geelong, and could yet find a home in the local market – as factory-approved accessories for Ford's local product range.

It's largely a question of cost, says Ford Australia's Communications & Public Affairs Director, Wes Sherwood.

"We see potential for [the wheels]," Sherwood said. "We do not have anything to talk about at this point, but we certainly see opportunity. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

"It's a world-first application and we don't plan to do anything but find more opportunities. We think others are going to come knocking on their door [Carbon Revolution's door] too. It's a real compelling combination, and particularly when you're looking at performance.

"But this combination of having lighter weight and better efficiency – that's a combination we're looking at across our line-up, but clearly we've got to work on cost."

Asked about the possibility the wheels could be offered as dealer-fit accessories for other performance Fords in Australia, Sherwood was noncommittal.

"That's certainly something we'll look at. Now that we've taken a big first step we think there's absolutely more opportunity; we think customers are excited about the technology and the possibilities; and... anybody who wants to improve their lap times first and foremost – and people invest very heavily in performance – that's a natural place for this to start.

"But then the combination has much broader applications, if and when we bring the cost down."

The possibilities are intriguing, but bringing the cost down and opening up the market for carbon-fibre wheels might take a while. Deakin University is on the job however, and according to Sherwood, the Geelong campus is "the world's leading carbon-fibre research facility".

An R&D team there is working on bringing down the cost of manufacturing, while also lowering the complexity. The two aims go hand in hand. Faster throughput will reduce labour costs and enhance supply for higher sales volumes.

And Carbon Revolution is going from strength to strength since the announcement three months ago that it was supplying the original equipment wheels for the Shelby Mustang. Today marked the occasion of the manufacturing plant's inauguration, attended by newly-appointed industry minister Christopher Pine.

Sherwood found it interesting to note from the minister's speech the renewed focus on manufacturing innovation expressed by the Turnbull government. And the Ford spokesman also acknowledged that Australia is well placed to capitalise on its materials technology expertise. 

"A lot of the commentary... has been doom and gloom up until recently. Talking with our purchasing chief... his comment was: 'Once other suppliers saw that it was possible it started creating some positive momentum' and I think that's really key...

According to Sherwood, the local companies who are supplying Ford globally have doubled in number during the past 12 months, from nine to 18 – including Carbon Revolution. The Ford spokesman credits former global CEO Alan Mulally's One Ford policy as the mechanism that has made it easier for Australian suppliers to tap into Ford's global supply chain.

"We've turned into an organisation the last 10 years, starting with Alan Mulally, focused on innovation and creating value in our vehicles, and shifting from being a discount auto maker – trying to outprice the competition.

"What that has led to is our engineering team is out scouring the world for innovation and ideas, as opposed to 'how can we make it cheaper than the Chinese?'

"That's a really different model, and we had our head of Ford Performance here, at the [Carbon Revolution] event, and his comment was: 'they were scouring the planet for suppliers for the new Shelby and the Ford GT'.

"They bumped into Carbon Revolution along this global search."

"In terms of what Australia offers to [Ford], it's unique skillset, highly educated population, great universities – great for our product development work [and] obviously great for some of our global teams to find innovation here.

"And what our purchasing chief said is [that] the quality of the supply base here is also a big factor. To innovate and produce high-quality products... that's the competitive advantage here."