DEARBORN - When Ford Motor Company says it cannot fill thousands of open mechanic jobs — even with wages that can approach six figures — the issue is not about people refusing to work. It is about whether workforce training systems are keeping pace with how work itself has changed. Ford CEO Jim Farley recently
ANN ARBOR - In Michigan, the auto industry doesn’t just build vehicles — it builds livelihoods. Assembly plants, suppliers, dealers, logistics firms and engineering centers all depend on one fundamental reality: consumers have to be able to afford what gets built. That assumption is now under pressure. As new-vehicle prices push toward — and increasingly
DETROIT -If self driving cars were judged by promises alone, Michigan highways would have been filled with autonomous vehicles years ago. Instead, the state that built the modern auto industry has spent more than a decade quietly stress-testing a harder truth: getting a car to drive itself reliably, everywhere, and in all conditions is far
ANN ARBOR — As U.S. auto prices and monthly payments hit historic highs, new data reveals generational differences not only in borrowing but in how these costs are squeezing household finances. A LendingTree analysis of ~66,000 anonymized credit profiles from mid-2025 highlights stark contrasts in debt loads, payment burdens, and now leasing vs financing payment
LANSING -Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a high-stakes federal antitrust lawsuit this week targeting major oil companies—including BP, Chevron, Exxon and Shell—and the American Petroleum Institute, alleging a decades-long conspiracy to stifle competition from renewable energy and electric vehicles. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in western Michigan, frames the case as not
DETROIT - Michigan’s auto industry is navigating one of its most complex transitions in decades — and recent policy shifts on both sides of the border are accelerating the pressure. As Canada moves to sharply reduce tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, Detroit’s legacy automakers are slowing EV expansion, pivoting toward hybrids, and reassessing long-term capital
ANN ARBOR - Michigan’s auto industry is quietly becoming part of the energy business. As electric vehicle sales growth slows and battery factories look for steadier demand, automakers including Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Tesla are expanding into stationary energy storage — large battery systems designed to stabilize electric grids, back up data centers,
LAS VEGAS — Autonomous vehicles have been “five years away” for more than a decade. Despite billions invested by automakers, suppliers, and technology companies, the industry continues to struggle with the same fundamental problems: brittle perception systems, difficulty handling rare edge cases, and limited explainability when automated systems make mistakes. At CES 2026, NVIDIA introduced
LANSING — Michigan’s future mobility economy is no longer defined by a single corridor, company, or technology. Instead, it is emerging as a regional system, shaped by geography, workforce concentration, infrastructure, and the realities of an evolving auto and energy market. That regional structure is a central takeaway from the 2025 Council on Future Mobility
ANN ARBOR - A dramatic new test-flight video released by a California aviation startup has reignited one of technology’s oldest promises: the flying car. The footage shows a compact electric vehicle lifting vertically from the ground, hovering smoothly, and settling back down under full control—a small flight by aviation standards, but a major psychological milestone
