Waymo plans to open a car factory in Michigan

[strangecosmos]

From Waymo’s blog:

“Waymo will first identify a facility in Southeast Michigan and, over the next few years, aim to create hundreds of local jobs in the community. ... This will be the world’s first factory 100%-dedicated to the mass production of L4 autonomous vehicles.”​

Growing our team and business in Michigan – Waymo – Medium

From a CBC report:

“Google's self-driving car spinoff Waymo said Tuesday it will bring a factory to Michigan, creating up to 400 jobs at what it describes as the world's first plant "100 per cent" dedicated to the mass production of autonomous vehicles.​

The company plans to spend about $13.6 million to retrofit a to-be-determined manufacturing facility in the Detroit area. In exchange, it will get a state incentive grant worth up to $8 million that was approved Tuesday by the Michigan Strategic Fund Board.”​

Google self-driving spinoff Waymo to put factory in Michigan | CBC News

 

[strangecosmos]

I think vertical integration is a smart move. To be totally reliant on striking deals with car manufacturers whose industry you are disrupting... that seems risky.

I previously suggested that Waymo acquire a car manufacturer but that would cost billions. This is a much cheaper way of vertically integrating.

 

[CarlK]

Need to make it clear it's not a car factory. It's a place to retrofit cars for autonomous uses. Something Waymo has always been doing but in smaller scales.

 

[strangecosmos]

Need to make it clear it's not a car factory. It's a place to retrofit cars for autonomous uses. Something Waymo has always been doing but in smaller scales.

I’m not totally clear on what’s happening, but this article gives some details:

“Waymo and Magna plan to build thousands of self-driving cars at a factory in southeast Michigan, including autonomous versions of the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE and Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan.”​

https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/22/waymo-plans-to-open-a-self-driving-car-factory-in-michigan/

 

[CarlK]

Yeah that sounds like they are just going to be there to retrofit Jag and Chrysler cars which they are already doing now. There was an announcement that it will buy 20,000 (?) I-Pace I guess will be for this purpose.

 

[GuyHall]

Yeah that sounds like they are just going to be there to retrofit Jag and Chrysler cars which they are already doing now. There was an announcement that it will buy 20,000 (?) I-Pace I guess will be for this purpose.

And 60,000 Pacificas