Take a look at the new Ford World Headquarters
Join Senior Automotive Writer Jamie Lareau as we take a look inside the new Ford World Headquarters.
- Ford Motor Co. celebrated the opening of its new Dearborn World Headquarters with a public event.
- The dedication ceremony was held as a family-friendly party with tours, food, and entertainment.
- Visitors, including retirees and current employees, gave positive reviews of the new 2.1 million square foot building.
The opening event for Ford Motor Co.’s new global headquarters was supposed to be a formal affair with a formal corporate atmosphere.
Instead, the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker chose to make the official dedication of the 2.1 million-square-foot building on Sunday, Nov. 16 as close to a family reunion as possible.
Ford invited members of the public — generations of Metro Detroiters connected to Ford’s 122-year history — to take a free self-guided tour of its New World headquarters at Oakwood Boulevard and Village Road, across from the Henry Ford Museum.
Hundreds of people poured in from 11 a.m. Sunday and the party started. Outside, Motown hits were playing from the speakers. Papier-mâché Big Heads from Detroit’s American Thanksgiving Day Parade, Rosie the Riveter, Detroit Lions great Barry Sanders, and Detroit Tigers’ iconic slugger Miguel Cabrera, among others, served as photo props for guests.
Visitors lined up for donuts and cider, and families with young children headed for bouncy houses and bouncy slides. Everywhere we went, community car shows of new and classic Ford cars were showing off the Ford brand.
And what’s the dress code? Finding a suit wasn’t easy. From Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford, Ford CEO Jim Farley, host and former WDIV anchor Devin Silian to Ford retirees, Dearborn residents and design enthusiasts, nearly everyone wore casual, Michigan-appropriate coats to keep warm.
Those completing the tour stopped inside the vehicle to admire touches such as a vibrant wall near the Oakwood entrance covered in raised circles representing the colors of Ford vehicles from the Model T era to today’s hues.
Reviews for this structure were overwhelmingly positive. “It’s first class. It’s really beautiful,” said George Bobrowski, 87, a product development engineer who worked for Ford for more than 30 years.
“I thought the building was great. It was very impressive,” said Ken Leach, who worked for Ford for 43 years and is now retired, working in powertrain engineering.
Mark Topping, who retired after 32 years at Ford, echoed similar sentiments. “The building is huge. It’s just huge,” Topping said. “It definitely has a lot of modern characteristics for future car manufacturing.”
One of the many things Toppings was impressed with on the tour was the cafeteria. “I was really surprised,” he said, adding, “It was like growing our own lettuce.”
He was referring to Gallery Hall, a huge food court with seven different chef-run restaurants. There, some of the vegetables for the salads are grown in-house and harvested fresh.
For Achraf Houeidi, a current Ford employee and program manager for product development, taking his family to the opening, which looks like the new headquarters itself, was a forward-thinking movie. “My kid wants to be an engineer and obviously wants to work for Ford. He really liked the atmosphere. This is one of the big things we’re trying to target to the younger generation.”
What did Howaydy’s son Kayan think was the best part of the tour? “The car…is a Mustang,” said the 9-year-old, who already has a great eye for car style.
Sunday’s visitors included Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, who said the global headquarters is a demonstration of “Ford’s strong commitment” to Dearborn and the Detroit region and to continuing to be a global leader.
The only thing Ford needs is a repeat of its summer Sunday gatherings. Mike Terrell, a former Detroit and Southfield public school teacher who worked for Ford in his youth, hailed the new headquarters as “unique,” adding with a laugh:
Terrell added, “But I’m glad I came. I think it’s worth seeing.”
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hines at jhinds@freepress.com.
