DETROIT – Detroit is on the verge of reinventing itself as a mobility leader on a scale akin to the early 20th century when the city’s auto industry put the world on wheels, Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr. tells participants attending the kickoff of Detroit Startup Week here.
“We should be mobility central,” Ford declares, noting investments in Detroit, a spirit of entrepreneurship, a startup mentality, reasonable cost of living and the right combination of skills are combining to make Detroit feel like the Silicon Valley of two decades ago.
Against that rapidly evolving landscape, automakers quickly are evaluating opportunities and partnerships, with General Motors partnering with Lyft as part of its mobility strategy and FCA US recently announcing a tie-up with Google to develop autonomous vehicles.
Ford Motor envisions a future, as outlined in Ford Smart Mobility, in which it still manufactures vehicles but also plays a role in connecting people with mobility options.
Ford says his company is “fully competitive” but isn’t “out talking about it all the time” while sorting through myriad options before deciding the company’s future role in mobility. Partnerships will play a major role, with announcements coming this year, he says.
“We need to clarify our strategy before we start pulling the trigger on a number of disparate things,” Ford says. “I think there’s no question, whether it’s technology companies, young companies, you’re going to see us do a lot more partnering than our industry traditionally has done in the past.”
Software developers will play a huge role, Ford says, with the culture gap between Silicon Valley and Detroit narrowing as the technology companies and automakers come together to solve mobility challenges.
“Tech companies have a much greater appreciation for what we do and how sophisticated our operation is, and we also have a better appreciation for their timing and their cadence than we did before,” Ford says.
Ford bristles when he hears critics say the area’s industry comprises “metal benders” alone, pointing out “there are more lines of code in our new Ford GT than there are in a Boeing 787.” He says Detroit’s strength lies in its army of engineers and “people who know how to make things.”
The biggest problem facing Detroit automakers, Ford says, is doing two jobs at once: Building and maintaining the core business of manufacturing and selling cars and trucks while “imagining” the new world of mobility and taking a leadership role there as well.
“We need to do both and we need to do both well and thoughtfully,” Ford says.
