Google's Self-Driving Car Project just announced that it's building what it calls a "self-driving technology development center" in Novi, Michigan, about 30 miles northwest of Detroit. The 53,000-square-foot facility will be used for research and development in concert with the company's Michigan-based partners — this is still the home of the American auto industry, after all.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/25/11...-novi-michigan
There were the oil shocks, the rise of superior imports, a plague of safety and quality control issues, outcry over the environment destruction, all arriving at the point where two of our “Big 3” were bankrupt and the third hanging on by fingernails and leveraged to the hilt such that even the name Ford was collateral. Detroit, city and auto capital, was dead. So it seemed likely.

To my eyes it appears we maintained just enough of the critical mass of skills to keep us relevant at a time in which the industry is radically reforming. Mobility is rapidly being redefined by connectivity, apps, the sharing economy, self-driving units, new power sources and artificial intelligence and Detroit is where they are all coming together.

Just our previous manufacturing skills set table for the emergence of the auto industry in 1900, so it seems we are well-positioned for the new era of mobility. If one is into mobility solutions, Detroit is again where you have to be and our snowball is rolling downhill. Mobility Capital instead of Auto Capital?

Thoughts?

---------------------------------
To illustrate my point, in addition to Google, here are some recent items I have encountered…

Cosworth, the English powertrain and electronics supplier, is a legendary name in motorsport as builders of iconic DFV Formula 1 engines opening a plant in Detroit at a reported cost of $30 million.
http://www.autoblog.com/2016/05/26/c...etroit-report/
The Shell Eco-Marathon brings wild-looking cars to the streets of Detroit Welcome to "Driving Detroit," a Roadshow series taking a high-fidelity look at the cultural and economic revolution under way in the Motor City. Exciting new mobility and transportation startups are appearing every day, and transformed, re-energized auto industry stalwarts are bringing new technology and fresh ways of thinking to bear in Detroit. Modern America was built on the back of Motown, and this city's nascent industrial and cultural revitalization has all the makings of America's greatest comeback yet.
http://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/dr...-economy-race/
Flex-N-Gate owner Shahid Khan said today his company will invest $95 million to build a new plant in Detroit that will supply parts to Ford that will initially create about 400 jobs as is being discussed on this forum.
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...ndustrial-Park
General Motors, like many traditional automobile manufacturers, has no illusions about what ride-sharing apps and driverless cars will do to the level of personal car ownership. So it is beginning to lay the foundation for its own ride-sharing services. It pumped $500 million into Lyft, the largest US competitor to Uber, which was once a close competitor, but now trails far behind. And today Bloomberg reported that GM has acquired employees and technology left over from Sidercar, a ride-sharing service that shut down in December of last year.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/19/10...de-sharing-app
And from last ear, IMO, the biggest one:

General Motors will invest $1 billion in its Warren Technical Center and add about 2,600 jobs over the next four years.

"This is an investment in our people who work at the Tech Center because it is positioning the company for long-term growth by enabling new levels of innovation and collaboration,"
http://www.freep.com/story/money/201...rren/27255467/