Ford says it remains committed to Australian design and engineering centres amid job cuts

Following the closure of Ford, Toyota and Holden car assembly lines in 2016 and 2017, Ford has grown its local design and engineering workforce by appointing Australia as a home base for cars manufactured elsewhere in the region.

However a recent round of job cuts – standing down 120 contract positions among approximately 2300 staff – has spooked industry observers that Ford may be planning to move its expertise to China, which is now the world's biggest car market.

Ford's boss of international markets, Dianne Craig, told Drive the cutbacks were designed to match workflow and should not be seen as the start of a wind-down of its design and engineering facilities on the outskirts of Melbourne.

"The (product development) team that we have here in Australia, they're incredibly talented," said Ms Craig. "They've got enormous street-cred inside the company because of their history with the Ranger."

While the Ford Ranger has been designed and engineered in Australia over the past decade, it is made in seven factories around the world – including Thailand where Australia-bound Rangers are sourced.

"We’re talking about a decade of people that worked on this product, they know Ranger and Everest customers better than anybody around the world," said Ms Craig.

"And obviously with the reception we have on (the new Ford Ranger), they've once again proven their capabilities here. 

"So there's a lot to be considered as you look at any resources around the globe, and certainly we're really proud of what they've done here."

The Ford executive said the recent scaling back of contract designers and engineers was "related to more of the peaks and valleys of the (model) cycle plan, and where we are in the launch phase.

"So that's going to happen with time, and it isn’t an indication of 'oh that means (a shutdown)'."

The boss of Ford Australia, Andrew Birkic told Drive: "Australia remains the engineering and design centre for Ranger, and so that is clear."

"The company always needs to keep looking at it as presence, its cost structures (but) we're really proud of what the team does here.

"We look at our resources all around the globe, but it isn't always just about efficiencies. Just as important (is) where they're located and (are they) critical to the business."