Ford has also established a global network of engineering centres responsible for developing the core attributes of Ford brand vehicles worldwide.
North American teams will be responsible for electrical and body (interior and exterior) engineering, European teams will handle chassis engineering, Asia Pacific and Africa engineering and purchasing resources will be integrated into Ford’s global core engineering and purchasing groups in Europe and the Americas
The core engineering and purchasing teams also will improve relationships with the global supply base to achieve economies of scale through common sourcing, reduce complexity and increase sharing of common parts.
The changes are designed to further enhance the speed at which Ford brings new vehicles to market. In the past four years, it has shaved eight to 14 months off this time, depending on programme complexity.