Shadow Industry Minister Senator Kim Carr and Member for Calwell Maria Vamvakinou have welcomed commitments from Ford Australia that the firm will continue to invest in Australian R&D and engineering capabilities. In a statement released today, Ford announced it will establish an engineering campus in Broadmeadows as part of its Asia-Pacific Engineering Centre.  The success of Australian automotive design and engineering talent was recently showcased on the world stage.  In January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, teams from both Ford Australia and GM Holden took out top awards on a highly competitive international stage.  
Ford’s GT Supercar, designed in the US by Todd Willing, a Tasmanian who now heads Ford’s Asia-Pacific Design Centre in Broadmeadows, received the EyesOnDesign Award for Best Production Vehicle.Achievements like awards in Detroit and ongoing commitments from the carmakers in Australian design and engineering clearly shows that our auto industry can compete on the world stage. Australia’s auto industry is a great repository of technological capability and design skills that we must strive to retain. Despite the very strenuous efforts of the Abbott Government to destroy the automotive industry, Ford’s announcement highlights that the industry will continue. The future political debate will be around its size and the scope of its capabilities.