Ford plans to be Australia’s biggest auto industry employer by 2018.
The company has outlined its plans to continue doing business with 63 Australian suppliers after it ceases local manufacturing next year.
“Many people think the auto industry is closing down in Australia but that is not the case at Ford,” said chief executive Graeme Whickman.
“In fact, we are launching a record number of new vehicles and investing more than any automaker as the only company fully developing vehicles in Australia.”
Ford Australia has committed to helping employees, suppliers, customers and dealers through the post-manufacturing transition, with supply contracts around new global vehicles rising from nine to 17, mostly in the aftermarket parts market.
The company plans to use the Australian talent pool to continue its global product push.
Its Ranger truck and Everest SUV are worth over $300 million in R&D this year alone, and as Ford pushes to launch 20 more vehicles in the next five years, Australia will be a massive contributor to the development effort.
Everest has already seen close to $2 billion spent by the company in the past six years.
Its work on global products like Fiesta, Focus and Ranger has accounted for 80% of its revenue this year.
“Ford is absolutely committed to serving our customers with world-class vehicles with advanced technologies and innovative features,” said Whickman in a statement.
“We plan to continue this momentum by investing more in R&D in Australia and around the world, which ultimately will help us bring our customers 20 more new vehicles by 2020.
“Also, as the industry transitions, we expect to become the country’s largest auto employer by 2018 – something we take great pride in considering this will include about 1,500 highly skilled employees across professions such as engineering and design.”
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