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Walsh: Mich. Automakers Should Worry About Silicon Valley

September 22, 2014, 7:01 AM

Detroit and Michigan should be worried that Silicon Valley is challenging the leadership of the auto industry, Tom Walsh of the Detroit Free Press thinks. He writes:

Under the headline "Motor City West Revs Up Demand for Space," the Wall Street Journal ran an article July 8 that should scare the bejesus out of Detroit and Michigan.

"The future of the car is in Silicon Valley," a vice president of the San Francisco-based Bay Area Council Economic Institute boldly predicted in the story, adding, "We're getting this entirely new ecosystem around automotive parts."

Southern states lured auto plants in the 1980s, he notes. 

Now we have Silicon Valley challenging Detroit's leadership in the auto industry's most promising growth areas — autonomous cars, connected vehicles, eco-friendly powertrains.

That's why a day-long,  2014 MICHauto Summit at Cobo Center on Tuesday is all the more important, Walsh explains. The conference will explore hot automotive trend and ideas for auto-related investments and jobs in Michigan.


Read more:  Detroit Free Press


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