Crain’s Detroit Business: Waymo Plans Michigan Expansion, Aiming to Create Up to 400 Jobs

By Dustin Walsh 

via Crain’s Detroit BusinessJanuary 22, 2019

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle sister company of Google, plans to invest up to $13.6 million and hire up to 400 in Michigan to expand its operations that work with automakers to integrate its self-driving technology.

The company, which employs 20 and operates a 53,000-square-foot office at 46555 Magellan Drive in Novi, is seeking 200,000 square feet of light manufacturing space to work with automakers on integrating its self-driving technology in Southeast Michigan, according to a memo from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

A specific location has not yet been identified, a representative from the MEDC told Crain’s via email Tuesday morning. A Waymo spokesperson told Automotive News the company would likely look to repurpose an existing space rather than build a new facility.

The project involves a partnership with auto supplier Magna International to integrate Waymo’s autonomous vehicle technology into the company’s expanding test fleet. Magna has a similar autonomous-vehicle partnership with ride-hailing service Lyft, in which it will integrate self-driving systems on fully autonomous vehicles for Lyft. Magna’s U.S. headquarters is in Troy.

“As we begin to commercialize our business and vehicle supply grows, we’re laying the foundation for a scalable, robust vehicle integration plan, starting in Michigan,” Waymo said in a statement.

Waymo plans to move into the space by the middle of this year, company executives said, and the program is expected to be operational by 2024.

“As we begin to commercialize our business and vehicle supply grows, we’re laying the foundation for a scalable, robust vehicle integration plan, starting in Michigan,” Waymo said in a statement.

Waymo plans to move into the space by the middle of this year, company executives said, and the program is expected to be operational by 2024.

The attacks are believed to be part of a growing concern over road safety during testing of driverless cars.

Now Waymo, the self-driving company with more vehicles on public roads than any other competitor, is helping to entrench Michigan’s role in producing vehicles of the future.

“Auto manufacturing has created hundreds of thousands of jobs in the state, and built an economic engine that fuel the entire country,” Waymo said in a statement. “We’ll be looking for engineers, operations experts, and fleet coordinators to join our team and help assemble and deploy our self-driving cars.”

— Pete Bigelow of Automotive News contributed to this article.

See original article in Crain’s Detroit Business.