Detroit moves to lead development of driverless cars

Bloomberg News

Detroit put the world on wheels and should be the place that takes the driver out of the driver’s seat, according to a coalition of Michigan business leaders and politicians.

The new group, MICHauto, unveiled an initiative last week to promote Detroit and Michigan for development of a new generation of mobility, including self-driving cars. The coalition includes Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford and General Motors Co. Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra.

The effort is a response to Silicon Valley’s growing automotive influence as companies such as Google Inc. and Apple Inc. develop driverless vehicles alongside electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc. Michigan led the United States last year in connectedauto projects with 45, to California’s 31, MICHauto said.

“Detroit and Michigan are in the crosshairs of some very talented innovators in places like Silicon Valley,” Doug Rothwell, president of Business Leaders for Michigan, a roundtable of top executives, said in a statement. “Michigan has to work quickly and cohesively to maximize our existing automotive resources in next-generation mobility.”

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has publicly complained that his state was losing the public relations war to Silicon Valley. That could cost Michigan thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment if the coming generation of automotive development shifts to California.

“Our biggest constraint compared to Silicon Valley is we’re crummy at marketing,” Snyder, a Republican, said in an April interview in Ann Arbor, Mich. “Much of the perception is Google and their car driving around Silicon Valley. We have exponentially more research going on within a few miles of here.”

Snyder, Bill Ford and other business and political leaders gathered last week at an annual policy conference on Mackinac Island, an oldworld vacation destination where cars are outlawed.

The group promoting the state’s leadership in automotive engineering and design includes Michigan Economic Development Corp., BusinessLeadersforMichigan, thestate’s Transportation Department and the University Research Corridor.

Southeastern Michigan, which includes Detroit, has the highest number of “advanced auto industry jobs,” with 67,825, and businesses, with 462, in the U.S., the coalition said.