Detroit – A panel of national experts in the automotive and consumer sectors gathered at Cobo Center to discuss Michigan’s growing advanced auto manufacturing sector and the next generation of fuel efficient vehicles and what they mean for the future of Michigan and important new opportunities for auto businesses, consumers, Michigan jobs and Michigan’s economy as a whole.
“Cars like the Chevy Volt are alredy changing the image of the American car industry,” said panel moderator Lawrence Ulrich, New York Times auto critic and a Detroit area native. “Now, these groundbreaking green machines could boost Detroit’s fortunes and reestablish Michigan as the leader in automotive technology just when the region needs it the most.”
The “Driving Michigan Forward” panel held a public forum in conjunction with the North American Auto Show to highlight the importance of the electric, hybrid and other advanced auto technologies to Michigan’s auto industry and the state’s economic future. The experts on the panel said Michigan must seize the momentum in the advanced auto sector and give the auto industry important resources, from the incentives and trade support to a more robust fuel economy standard.
“Michigan has been hit by fuel price spikes and gas prices are on the rise again,” said Walter McManus, director of Automotive Analysis at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. “Michigan’s automakers are poised on the brink of a turnaround, they must continue to drive toward more fuel efficient technologies to help shield future profits and jobs from the effects of even higher oil and gas prices.”
“Michigan’s middle class built our economy and the advanced auto sector can help rebuild Michigan’s middle class which has been hurting for the past decade,” said Brian Fredline, president of UAW Local 602, which represents workers from the General Motor Lansing Delta Township assembly plant. “Ford and GM are making aggressive investments in advanced auto technology that could potentially put thousands of highly skilled autoworkers who have been laid off through no fault of their own back to work. Michigan working families are hungry for jobs and excited by the growth of Michigan’s advanced auto sector.”
“Our analysis of consumers behavior and responses to public opinion polls shows that American Consumers were much more interested in more fuel efficient vehicles than auto makers recognized,” said Mark Cooper, director of research for the Consumer Federation of America. “The market will be there if they fill their showrooms with attractive, efficient models and educate the public about the benefits. At the same time if U.S. automakers are to return to leadership in the global industry, they must also be able to sell vehicles around the world, and that means developing much more fuel efficient models to offer to the public. The future to a healthy industry with secure, high paying jobs, is to to rebuild the industry around higher fuel economy. Higher fuel economy standards can play a key role in ensuring the industry stays on target.”
“The technology exists to dramatically increase the fuel economy of all cars, from the smallest smart car to the largest pickup truck,” said John German, senior fellow and program director for the International Council for Clean Transportation, with primary responsibility for technology innovation and U.S. policy development. “The race is on. Fortunately, Michigan car makers have learned some tough lessons and are posed to be leaders in technology development, as demonstrated by technologies such as the Chevy Volt and the Ford Eco-boost system. We can both help consumers and create a level playing field for manufacturers by strengthening the nation’s fuel economy standard.”
“Advanced autos that feature cutting edge technologies are capturing a lot of the spotlight this year at the auto show,” said Bob Shuman, a North American International Auto Show board memeber, president of ShumanChrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Walled Lake, and vice president of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association. “These new technologies are also catching the attention of car buyers and bringing more people into auto showrooms. There’s no arguing that the auto industry went through a very rough patch, but it’s plain to see that new innovations in today’s cars and trucks have helped put us back on the road to recovery.”
Michigan’s advanced auto sector has attracted major investments and job creating opportunities:
- GM is hiring 1,000 engineers and researchers in Michigan to expand its vehicle electrification expertise and lead in the development of more electric vehicle with extended range capability, like the Chevrolet Volt.
- GM has invested more than $700 million in eight facilities in Michigan to support Volt production. GM has the industry’s largest and most technologically advanced battery systems lab at its Warren Technical Center and has invested $336 million at its Detroit Hamtramck assembly plant, home of the Volt.
- GM invested another $43 million at the industry’s only battery pack manufacturing plant in Brownstown Township. An additional $162 million investment will support powertrain operations in Flint and Bay City.
- The all electric and plug in hybrid versions of the Ford Focus will be built at Ford’s Michigan Assembly plant in Wayne. Ford has spent $550 million to remake the facility into one of the most advanced assembly plants in the auto industry.
- Michigan is poised to become the lithium ion automotive battery capital of the world, with 17 groundbreakings for new advanced manufacturing infrastructure.
About the “Driving Michigan Forward” panel
- Dr. Mark Cooper is director of research at the Consumer Federation of America, a fellow at Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society, and a fellow at The Donald McGannon Communications Center of Fordham University. Cooper holds a Ph.D from Yale University and is a former Yale University and Fulbright fellow. Cooper has analyzed the impacts of a 60 mpg federal fuel economy standard on consumers, and found that costs of improved technologies would be more than offset by fuel savings.
- Brian Fredline is president of UAW Local 602, which represents workers from the General Motors Lansing Delta Township assembly plant. Members of the Delta Township plant build the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and the Chevy Traverse. Fredline has previously served as president and vice president of UAW Local 1618 in Lansing. He is also vice president of the UAW CAP council and was a 206 UAW International Fellow.
- John German is a Senior Fellow and Program Director for the International Council for Clean Transportation, with responsibility for technology innovation and US policy development. German has been involved with advanced technology and efficiency since joining Chrysler in 1976, where he spent eight years working on fuel economy issues in Powertrain Engineering.
- Walter McManus has been a member of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) faculty sinve March 2005. Prior to joining UMTRI, he was executive director of forecasting and analytics at the global marketing information companyJ.D. Power and Associates. His business experience includes nine years with General Motors in forecasting, marketing analysis and strategy, and new product development.
- Bob Shuman is president of Shuman Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Walled Lake. A third generation dealer/owner, Shuman took a different path prior to embarking on a career in automotive retailing. Holding an accounting degree from Michigan State University and a law degree from the University of Michigan, Shuman practiced law with the firm of Beier Howlett in Bloomfield Hills, eventually being named a partner in the firm. Shuman resigned his position with the firm to take over the family dealership in 1997, upon the retirement of his father. Shuman also serves on the board of the North American International Auto Show.
- Lawrence Ulrich is an automotive writer based in New York. In addition to this work as an auto critic of The New York Times, Ulrich is the former auto critic for the Detroit Free Press and has written for Popular Science, Car and Driver, Automotive magazine, Forbes, Fortune, Men’s Health, Maxim and O: The Oprah Magazine. Ulrich has written extensively about the Chevy Volt, and named it the No. 3 car of 2010 in recent review for The New York Times. Born and forged in Detroit, Ulrich hails from a three generation family of auto workers.