Ford Opening New Melbourne Office, Transforming Broadmeadows Facility

Ford Australia will soon open a new office right next-door to homewares giant IKEA in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Richmond, the company has confirmed.

Ford describes the office, situated at the corner of the Victoria Gardens shopping complex, as a new “national sales company” headquarters established in the lead-up to Ford’s transformation into an import brand.

The office will host around 200 people in marketing, sales and service, focused on introducing Ford’s coming new models and improving the consumer experience for new and existing customers.

News of the Richmond sales office is joined by the announcement that Ford’s existing Broadmeadows facility will be refurbished, with a focus on engineering and global product development.

“This team will continue to design, engineer and test vehicles with leading quality, fuel economy,safety and smart technologies for customers around the world. No other automotive company will approach this level of local innovation,” the company said in a statement today.

Broadmeadows may also remain Ford Australia’s ‘head office’ as part of operations for its Asia Pacific Engineering Centre, although communications chief Wes Sherwood told TMR today that the company is still working through the details of staff distribution. 

Also still to be determined is what will become of the space occupied by Ford's vehicle assembly facility at Broadmeadows when it is decommissioned in 2016.

All of this comes as part of a $300 million investment in the carmaker’s Australian operations through 2015, adding to a nearly $2 billion spend over the past six years.

Ford has previously announced plans to become Australia’s largest auto company after the 2017 end of local manufacturing, maintaining a workforce of around 1500 people.

Along with the refurbished Broadmeadows facility and new Richmond office, Ford has confirmed that its Geelong and Lara research and testing centres will continue unchanged.

For more on Ford Australia’s transformation, see our links below.

Ford Australia’s 2014 launch schedule includes the all-new Mondeo and Everest models, facelifts for the Focus and Ranger, and the latest generation of the hero Mustang.

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