By Lexi Cottee
Ford will shift more than 200 employees from Broadmeadows to a new base at Richmond.
The company announced on Tuesday it would establish a new national sales office closer to the city.
Contracts have been signed for office space near the Richmond Ikea store for marketing, sales and services staff “to capitalise on the area’s vibrancy and related employee satisfaction benefits,” a company spokesman said.
The company also announced it would continue to invest in Broadmeadows by refurbishing its head office. The building will be transformed into a product development campus for Ford’s engineering team.
“The transformation of Ford’s head office into the Asia-Pacific Engineering Centre will signal that we will be the only company that can fully develop vehicles in Australia,” Ford Australia president and chief executive Bob Graziano said.
The move to Richmond will take place in the middle of the year.
A company statement said Ford planned to become Australia’s largest automotive company in Australia after 2017, with a 1500-strong workforce that will continue to design, engineer and test cars.
“Ford is investing heavily in innovation and our Australian team will be a key part of delivering even more advanced vehicles in the future as one of our four engineering centres of excellence globally,” Ford’s Melbourne-based director of engineering and product development in the Asia Pacific, Graydon Reitz, said.
“No other auto company is investing this heavily in Australia.”
Ford will invest $300 million in its Australian operations this year.
Calwell MP Maria Vamvakinou deflected questions about Ford’s move away from Broadmeadows.
But she welcomed the company’s commitment to investing in its engineering facilities at the Sydney Road site.
“Australia’s auto industry is a great repository of technological capability and design skills that we must strive to retain,” Ms Vamvakinou said.
“Ford’s announcement highlights that the industry will continue.”
She said the future political debate would be around its size and the scope of its capabilities.
Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood said the sales, marketing and services staff would move out of rented space at Broadmeadows.
He said the company was not selling any of its facilities at Broadmeadows as part of the Richmond move.
