Ford secures future of Aussie design centre Ford secures future of Aussie design centre February 25, 2021 Long-overdue $12 million investment shores up Ford’s Melbourne-based global design operations Ford Australia’s global design centre looks to be secure for at least another decade, with the Blue Oval brand investing $12 million in a long-overdue upgrade to the Victorian studio complex. Currently accommodating more than 200 designers who work on vehicles for Australia and global markets, the design studio housed within Ford’s Asia Pacific Product Development Centre (APPDC) in Campbellfield, north of the Melbourne CBD, has been only upgraded on an ad hoc basis since it was opened in the 1970s.