It’s happening as you read. Ford Motor Co.’s Premier Automotive Group division is nestling hundreds of employees into its new North American headquarters just off the San Diego (I-405) Freeway in Irvine.
The facility, a stone’s throw from the U.S. home of Ford’s Japanese affiliate, Mazda Motor Corp., houses the world headquarters of Lincoln Mercury, which moved to Irvine from Detroit in 1998, as well as Ford’s Jaguar, Volvo, Aston Martin and Land Rover brands.
Ford’s sizeable transplant marks the latest example of big automakers cozying up to Orange County. With Irvine as its epicenter, the county is becoming one of the nation’s automotive hubs, with spillover into nearby Southern California communities.
“In general, Orange County and Southern California has gone from being an outpost 10 years ago to a pivotal center for the global automotive industry,” said Paul Eisenstein, publisher of Detroit-based TheCarConnection.com, an automotive magazine.
The evolution began a few decades ago when Japanese automakers set up shop in Southern California to be near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Nissan North America Inc., American Suzuki Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. were among the first.
They were followed by South Korean automakers Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp. (now part of Hyundai) and Daewoo Motor Sales Co.
Ford has long had some operations in OC, including a regional sales office in Anaheim. But Lincoln Mercury was the first U.S. automaker to headquarter in OC. And when it did, a buzz followed.
“It’s been interesting,” said Geno Effler, director of public relations for Kia Motors America. “Since Lincoln Mercury made the decision to come out West, it has brought a lot more attention to the car companies that are already here in Orange County.”
Echoed Jay Amestoy, vice president of Mazda North American Operations:
“The landscape has changed dramatically with the arrival of Lincoln Mercury and now the arrival of the Premier Automotive Group,” he said. “Orange County is becoming as significant in many respects as Los Angeles and Detroit have been.”
Simon Sproule, spokesman for Jaguar, said Lincoln Mercury’s “positive experience” in OC was the “catalyst” for Ford’s European luxury brands to move in. Traditionally, he said, European brands were based on the East Coast, while the West Coast was the domain of Japanese and South Korean brands.
“There’s quite a big shift now,” Sproule said.
But why OC?
Victor Doolan, president of Volvo Cars of North America and the executive director of the Premier Automotive Group, said the area not only is at the forefront of technology and design, it’s a “compelling” market that offers great diversity in terms of geography and climate.
“It’s all there for us to experience and enjoy and see how our cars perform,” he said. “It’s kind of a mirror of all the climatic, geographic, demographic and psychographic aspects of the (automotive) world.”
The draw has been strong enough to woo a range of automakers, from American Isuzu Motors Inc. to Toyota Motor Corp. and Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc., which currently employ more than 3,000 people in their OC facilities.
Mitsubishi opened its U.S. arm in OC in 1982. Back then, the company was in Fountain Valley and counted 10 employees. Today Mitsubishi has 862 people at its headquarters in Cypress.
“The presence of the automotive industry in Orange County has definitely expanded in the past 20 years,” said Pierre Gagnon, president and chief operating officer of Mitsubishi Motor Sales. “The growth of the Japanese manufacturers located in Southern California has been the driving factor.”
Mitsubishi Motors has evolved from its roots as a distribution center into a sophisticated sales and marketing organization, Gagnon said. The company’s Cypress design studio has played a key role in the company’s product development, he said.
“The Mitsubishi Eclipse design was born in Orange County along with several of Mitsubishi’s most popular concept vehicles,” he said.
“We’re at the point we’ve gotten on the radar screen” of everyone in the auto industry, said Paul Hiller, managing director of Destination Irvine, the economic development arm of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce. “Our role is to make it as easy as possible for them to come out here.”
Added Kia’s Effler: “Irvine has been working diligently to help promote the city specifically as the Motor City West because of the influx of car companies located within the city limits.”
Besides the Premier Automotive Group, there are five automakers with offices in Irvine.
Jaguar’s Sproule called it a “vibrant growing area” and a “great place to do business.”
“Orange County in its own right is a very strong market,” he said. “When you combine in the Southern California part of this with Los Angeles and San Diego, you’ve probably got the richest single luxury car market in the world.”
What happens in the Southland not only is important in North America but around the world, Sproule said.
“Not just in terms of the cars we sell but the trends and the direction the car business is going,” he said. “This is a very leading edge economy.”
Plus, as technology becomes a more integral part of the automobile, Wallace Walrod, vice president of the Orange County Business Council, said automakers appreciate the close access OC provides to Silicon Valley and the aerospace manufacturers of Southern California,many of which are attempting to broaden into commercial work.
“Orange County is one of the top incubators of technology in the world,” Walrod said.
It’s also a place where diversity has bred a flourishing and creative car culture, he added.
Much of that creativity stems from the nearby presence of Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design and other top-notch schools.
Jean Mitsunaga, the Pasadena college’s career resources director, said numerous automakers in OC have tapped the schools interns and graduates. They include Lincoln Mercury, Mazda and Toyota, which operates its design studio, Calty Design Research, in Newport Beach.
“Our students do real well,” Mitsunaga said. “All of the major studios are practically headed up by art center graduates.”
“A lot of car designers come through the West Coast schools, and their influence is felt around the world,” Sproule said.
Some of the industry’s most creative concepts and production vehicles have emerged from Southland facilities in recent years, including the Plymouth (now Chrysler) Prowler, a factory-built hot rod developed at DaimlerChrysler AG’s Pacifica Design Center in Carlsbad.
That facility also crafted the quirky Dodge Super8 Hemi, a retro cruiser concept vehicle making the rounds on this year’s auto show circuit.
The Premier Automotive Group wants to feed off that energy, and is opening its own design studio at its Irvine site in January.
“It’s not just a bunch of suits like me pushing paper around,” Sproule said. “Designers are going to be working out here on assignment on future products” such as concept cars and mainstream production vehicles.
Sproule said the design facility will be used by each of the group’s five brands, and may tap students from nearby design centers.
“It’s a very rich scene to tap into,” Sproule said.
Not to mention any of the independent studios that provide services to automakers, there are a slew of facilities in Southern California. Along with Toyota’s design center in Newport Beach, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has one in Cypress and Porsche Engineering Services in Huntington Beach provides hush-hush design services to the automotive and industrial design markets.
Kia might be next. Effler said Hyundai and Kia are looking at establishing a joint design center somewhere in OC in the next couple of years.
Kia does not have a design center in the U.S. Hyundai operates one from its Fountain Valley offices.
“You want to be designing and developing cars that are more in tune with American consumers,” Effler said. “To do that, you have to have your finger on the pulse of American consumers. The trends emerge from Southern California.” n
