Australians engineering a new career in automotive

A hooded figure with a scythe stood in front of parliament house in Canberra in late June, it was Bob Katter bemoaning the death of the Australian car manufacturing industry, there in his black cloak he held a press conference to discuss his motion to support the re-establishment of an Australian car manufacturing industry.

The SAE-A also supports the re-establishment of an Australian car manufacturing industry, but it may not be quite the same vision as Mr Katter’s, the SAE-A’s vision is spelt out very concisely in the following pages of this VTE issue. On these pages we will look at where some of our best engineering talent has gone – most recently after the departure of Holden, but before that with local manufacturing shutting at Holden, Toyota, Ford and Mitsubishi, and even before that when Nissan pulled up stumps at Clayton, Victoria. The last remnants of Holden’s globally recognised engineering and design divisions are winding up over the next weeks with the remaining 100 Holden engineers, currently employed at the Lang Lang proving ground in South Gippsland, Victoria, to depart during August. Lang Lang is currently for sale, but no one as yet has put up their hand with enough cash to buy it. It had been reported that both Lindsay Fox and VinFast had shown interest but all has gone very quiet since early June. A number of engineers have found work with other car makers and component suppliers, including several moving to the newly established VinFast technical centre (ATI2) in Melbourne, and some having made the move overseas to GM in the US.

Holden engineers at General Motors

Jacqui Lewis Program Engineering Manager – Active Safety, is one Australian ex-Holden engineer who moved to the US to join GM, her move came in 2015 after starting with Holden in 2006. She initially started at Holden in warranty engineering specifically in electrical right before the VE launch she told VTE magazine. And she stayed there for almost two years before joining the electrical engineering team in a group called Buyout. In this role she worked in pre-production operations overseeing the electrical aspects of pre productions builds of the Camaro, G8 and Commodore updates including the first LPG Engine. From there she moved to platform calibration then became a design release engineer. She worked in active safety specifically front camera module, side blind zone radar and park assist before making the move to US in 2015. Ms Lewis is still working with a lot of ex-Holden engineers possibly around 50 but she said it is hard to tell as GM is so big. GM is a lot bigger than Holden which means there is a lot more happening. More programs, more vehicles and the sheer number of people she said. When she first moved to GM, she started work on the new electrical architecture that was only launched this year. That meant she was seeing a side of GM that engineers at Holden were never really exposed to. The very start of an architecture rather than just the start of a vehicle program. Now Ms Lewis has ex Holden colleagues all over GM and commented that a lot of her American colleagues often say there are Aussies everywhere.

Ms Lewis said that she and her fellow exHolden engineers were chosen based on their skills in specific areas, and their experience. Additionally, Holden engineers offer a different aspect on how things are done, which really makes them stand out. To make the move to the US there had to be a team that ‘wanted’ the engineer; as you can imagine the relocation costs were significant, so GM needed to make sure the right people were chosen. Fortunately, Ms Lewis had worked a lot with people in active safety at GM and was told she was chosen for her attitude to doing things right the first time and making sure that she knew what she was doing and not relying on others to do it for her. Over in the US the car industry is vast compared with Australia, so the opportunities are there and in many fields that simply were not available here. For Ms Lewis, the most exciting thing is that she gets to work in a space that she loves and that is just moving so quickly. Active safety really is a focus at the moment so being at the

forefront of that for GM is both exciting and important. She said she has moved around within active safety where she was part of the team working on a new radar for the new electrical architecture. After that role she moved into a more leadership role where she worked closely with program teams on feature rollout. This was an extremely important role as she had to learn how to balance risk – how many programs would get a new feature in its first model year, make sure the features we were working and meeting customer needs. It also meant meeting the company’s marketing needs and ensuring they were being delivered at a cost that meant customers could have the feature and realize the safety benefits. Ms Lewis has now moved into a people management role, working in a role that was created for her where she is expanding on the feature rollout experience by adding the business side and being more strategic. She is responsible for creating future strategies in the space and getting these approved by senior leaders for global support. Just recently her strategy was shared with leaders all the way up to Mary Barra (Mary Barra is the chairman and CEO of General Motors and the first female CEO of a major automaker). She said that to her this shows that the work she is doing is critical to GM’s future when it is getting attention all the way to the top. And for her that is so exciting and really fuels her passion

Holden engineers at VinFast

On 11 June 2020, VinFast officially opened its office in Melbourne (Australia) where the company aims to research and develop new car models and lay the foundation for VinFast’s international expansion as it realises its vision of becoming a global brand in the future. However, the company first set up an office in the Port Melbourne location late in 2019, before GM motors announced its decision to leave. It chose the location to be near Monash

VinFast manufacturing plant, Vietnam

University’s large-scale research centres for R&D activities. VinFast Australia has nearly 100 employees who are industry experts and engineers enticed from the world’s leading automakers such as Holden, Toyota and Ford. Vinfast has a host of ex-GM and Holden employees in senior roles such as Jim DeLuca (Deputy CEO VinFast), Dave Lyon (director of design VinFast), Kevin Yardley (head ATI2 VinFast), Joe Sawyer (director chassis and powertrain VinFast) and Shaun Calvert (VinFast global vice president manufacturing and engineering). The Automotive Technology Institute 2 (ATI2) – VinFast speak for its Australian R&D operation – is headed by Kevin Yardley, who held senior management roles at GM Holden for 20 years. We spoke with NamLong Nguyen of VinFast in Vietnam and asked him to elaborate on the mix of engineers working at VinFast. “It’s a mix since we have various engineers that are ex Holden, then some had moved to Ford or Toyota or Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), and then moved to us at VinFast. So, their brand origin is not really as important as choosing our employees based on their experience and qualifications which fit our culture, plan and requirements,” Mr Nguyen said. “We have been very fortunate that we can select the best engineers from the Australian industry, and they bring with them a mixed “brand” culture which works well. “We can trade off the way Holden would execute something versus the way JLR, or Toyota would execute something. From this, we can create the VinFast way of execution, by taking the best pieces.” All together – that’s overseas and in Australia, the company employs around 1000 engineering staff. And Mr Nguyen said that the company is ramping up its operations and so more engineers will be required in the future in Australia as well as in Hanoi, Vietnam where the company has its manufacturing plant. Australian engineers are a good source of talent. “The local Australian industry is well known for developing global cars for Europe, US and Asia,” Mr Nguyen said. “As a result of the demise of the Australian auto industry we were aware there would be plenty of talented engineers looking for automotive work. So, it was a logical step to tap into the resource base.” The company has already developed the Lux A2.0 sedan and Lux SA2.0 SUV. These are the first of many cars planned for overseas markets, which potentially include Australia. According to VinFast, the cars incorporate Italian design and German engineering by using a BMW platform and engines, and the two models will go head-to-head with Toyota’s Camry and Fortuner in the Vietnamese market. Australia was ripe for the picking when it came to engineers. “This step has been a carefully executed strategy by VinFast to take advantage of the recent loss of the Australian automotive industry. Currently all the talent, expertise and facilities are still intact in Melbourne and conditions are ripe for the picking,” Mr Nguyen said. “Melbourne has been the home to automotive manufacturers for decades including Toyota, Ford and GM. The supplier base and supply chains are still largely intact and it’s no coincidence that these manufacturers were all based in Melbourne. Port Melbourne in particular is based around a port where shipping and freight is within easy reach. “This area is also being developed as an innovation hub for Australia. Holden’s engine and vehicle plants were able to ship product directly out the door and into shipping containers for global export. “Several proving grounds are within 90 minutes of Port Melbourne enabling full vehicle testing and development within easy reach of the city, even for daily commutes.” One of those testing facilities is Holden’s Lang Lang proving ground, and Mr Nguyen would not elaborate on whether the company had any plans to purchase it or any other of Holden’s facilities but what he did say was: “Stay tuned. We have exciting plans for Australia.”