After shutting down manufacturing in Brazil, Ford targets innovation services and startups

*by Claudio Ferreira, contributing writer

Nearly 600 days after shutting down manufacturing in Brazil as a result of global integration and local failures, Ford is looking to explore new revenue streams in its Development and Technology Center, located in Camaçari, in the northern state of Bahia. The carmaker expects to reach 500 million Brazilian reais ($120 million) in local revenue this year and plans to grow income on that front, which includes a dedicated are for startup projects, dubbed D-Ford.

Ironically (and tragically), after thousands of layoffs and deactivations at its local manufacturing units in 2021, the company expanded its investments for the Brazilian center, and hired 500 new employees. Currently, the 1,500-string workforce is busy on a series of global projects aimed at Ford’s car offerings, the focus being the future of mobility, more specifically electric and autonomous vehicles.

“Continuous innovation is the difference between companies that will grow and those that will disappear. In this scenario, we saw an opportunity to expand our operations by exporting engineering services to Ford’s main markets around the world, taking advantage of the creativity, versatility and experience of our professionals”, said Daniel Justo, president of Ford South America.

The Center, one of nine of its kind worldwide, works in integration with Ford‘s global innovation ecosystem. The Camaçari facility has six buildings and a 65,000 square feet area, which houses a design studio, Teardown, a virtual reality lab (which performs the disassembly, scanning and analysis of components), offices and the D-Ford lab.

The latter is a new area created to work as a startup focused on innovation, conducting research to predict consumer needs years before the vehicles hit the road. “D-Ford was created to hit and miss. We use agile methodologies and want to create memorable experiences. Design, for example, is a human-centered activity”, said Justo.

The D-Ford team has 10 staff including engineers, in addition to other professionals such as psychologists. At the moment, the lab is starting to establish partnerships with universities, in areas such as ergonomics. “Our focus is on [developing] ideas. We look for startups and innovation offices to research and identify the market’s demands, focusing on the consumer, as well as on current and next generation cars”, the executive said.

Connecting and expanding

In the South American region, the Camaçari center connects with the ideation hub in Salvador (the capital of the Bahia state), the Development and Testing Center in Tatuí (in the southern state of São Paulo) and the Pacheco laboratory (based in Argentina). “[We work with] cars of today or those that might hit the streets in two years, or even 10 years. We are a data factory, focused on innovation and on the consumer”, said Rafael Marzo, a manager at the center.

It’s an increasingly export-oriented structure. After all, in recent months, global services have grown in volume and complexity to the point that approximately 85% of the work is focused on Ford‘s demands outside Brazil. “Our Center operates as a self-sustaining business unit. This shows that Brazilian engineering is extremely competitive and that it is worth investing in research, development and innovation in the country”, Justo said.