Scheduled to open by early 2019, the new 28-acre facility in Chennai will employ 3000 people over a five-year period and bring in 9000 from six existing facilities in the southern Indian city to serve as Ford’s second-largest centre of employment globally – second only to its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan – and operate as “a hub for product development, mobility solutions and business services for India and other markets around the world”.
Powerhouse: Ford’s new product development centre in Chennai will serve as a global hub for product development, but the company insists it will not threaten the Australian R&D operations.
Ford’s Victorian-based global product development centre currently has about 1500 engineering and design professionals working on the next-generation Ranger, Everest and other vehicles for the Blue Oval brand’s global operation – including regional-specific vehicles for markets such as China and India, as demonstrated by the successful Fiesta-based Figo.
On the face of it, the new Indian centre – which will become the third in the region, after Australia and China (Nanjing) – could threaten Australian-based programs and jobs as Ford admits the facility will house “engineering talent … (and) deliver business solutions to nearly every Ford location around the world in the areas of IT, finance and accounting, manufacturing, data analytics, marketing sales and service, purchasing, and automotive financing”.
However, Ford’s Shanghai-based product communications director for the Asia-Pacific region, Sinead Phipps, told GoAuto that the new facility in Chennai would not undermine Australian operations.
“The new centre in India will be an enhancement to our AP PD (Asia-Pacific product development) facilities – it won’t take away from either Australia or Nanjing,” she said.
“AP PD personnel all work collaboratively now across the sites we currently have – as well as with their global counterparts – and that won’t change with this new facility.”
Ms Phipps said it was too early to say whether opportunities would open up for Australian engineers to work in India – “in terms of personnel, we’re just starting to build the facility in India so it’s a couple of years before it will be staffed” – but did reiterate that former Ford Australia executive Trevor Worthington was at the heart of the project in his capacity as vice-president of product development for Asia-Pacific – and “that includes all operations”.
She added that “the facilities and staffing we have in Australia won’t be replicated in India – they will remain the most extensive we have in the region”.
Ford Australia’s communications and public affairs director Wes Sherwood also told GoAuto: “In general, this is another example of Ford investing significantly more in new products to deliver and maintain one of the freshest line-ups across the industry – leading to growth of our Australian team and others.
“Our global teams regularly work together on new product designs and engineering and that will continue. Additionally, we continue to seek opportunities for our local suppliers to support our global business with 20 of our local partners already earning new future business.”
Ford Motor Company executive chairman Bill Ford announced the plans for the new centre during a visit to India this week.
“India is not only a vibrant market for cars and new mobility ideas, it also is rich with talent, technical expertise and ingenuity,” Mr Ford said.
“This new centre will help us attract the best and brightest, and make Chennai a true hub of innovation for Ford around the world.”
The company says the centre will stretch across a 28-acre campus, with some 233,000 square metres of floor space, and will be designed to “enhance innovation and collaboration among employees”.
There will be at least six buildings, including three large office towers and a separate common ‘Learning and Development Centre’ with amenities such as fitness and yoga centres and medical and childcare facilities.
By Terry Martin
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