Ford Motor has announced plans to transform its Dearborn facilities into a “modern, green and high-tech campus to foster innovation and help drive the company’s transition to an auto and a mobility company”.
The 10-year plan to redevelop the automaker’s 60-year-old Dearborn facilities will co-locate 30,000 employees from 70 buildings today into primarily two locations, a product campus and a world headquarters campus.
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Around 7.5m square feet of work space will be rebuilt and upgraded into more technology-enabled and connected facilities. A “walkable community” with paths, trails and covered walkways, the product campus will include a new design centre, autonomous vehicles, on-demand shuttles, eBikes, new on-site employee services, wireless connectivity speeds up to 10 times faster than today and more green spaces. A second campus location, around the current Ford World Headquarters building, will feature a new Ford Credit facility and provide on-site employee services, improved connectivity and enhanced accessibility to the expansive green space that surrounds the building.
“As we transition to an auto and a mobility company, we’re investing in our people and the tools they use to deliver our vision,” said Ford president and CEO Mark Fields. “Bringing our teams together in an open, collaborative environment will make our employees’ lives better, speed decision-making and deliver results for both our core and emerging businesses.”
The company’s core auto business includes continuing to invest in designing, manufacturing, marketing, financing and servicing cars, SUVs, trucks and electrified vehicles. It also is pursuing emerging opportunities through Ford smart mobility, the company’s plan to be a leader in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience and data and analytics.
Construction of the new product campus begins this month at the Ford research and engineering centre. The majority of work is expected to be complete by 2023. Major work on the second campus around Ford World Headquarters begins in 2021 and is expected to be complete in 2026.
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