Ford to shift major operations to new Mickleham facility

Ford will consolidate its parts and logistics teams from across Victoria at a purpose-built new facility 13km north of its former Broadmeadows production line.

The car company has signed a 10-year lease for the Mickleham property and expects to move in late next year.

Ford spokesman Matt Moran says while in the “early stages of planning for the move” they “don’t expect the move to lead to any significant changes in our staffing levels”.

“Our spare parts operations are currently spread across a number of different buildings on our Victorian sites; they will be brought under one roof in the new facility, which will continue to be operated by Ford staff from our parts supply and logistics team,” Moran says.

Ford currently has sites at Broadmeadows, Richmond, Geelong and the You Yangs.

A render showing the scale of the future facility to be run by Ford.

The announcement comes a year after the car company’s former manufacturing hub was sold off and four years after the last cars rolled out of the Broadmeadows production line in 2016, following more than 90 years of operations.

The new property to be built in the Merrifield Business Park in Mickleham is expected to bring Ford up to five active sites in Victoria.

Ford’s new site will include more than 50,500sqm of warehouse and 900sq m office space, which the company’s Australia and New Zealand chief executive Kay Hart says will give customers the “best experience possible”.

It will supply owners of current and future cars, including electric vehicles, Hart says.

MAB are developing the business park as part of a mixed-use master planned community, and general manager commercial and industrial Michael Martin said the pocket was becoming a “preferred location in the north” for large warehousing.

The car company has signed a 10-year lease for the purpose-built facility.

“The facility will consolidate Ford’s spare parts operations into one purpose-built facility and help them service their customers faster and more efficiently,” Martin says.

“We look forward to welcoming them in 2021.”

The 415ha business park will be bigger than Melbourne’s CBD when completed and will host 25,000 jobs.

Other businesses signed on to the business park include paint company Dulux and Steritech, a sterilisation and decontamination processor.

This article from the Herald Sun originally appeared as “Ford to consolidate spare parts operations at new Merrifield centre in Mickleham”.