Waymo picks Detroit factory for self-driving fleet, aims to be operational in months

Self-driving car company Waymo announced Tuesday that it plans to begin manufacturing cars in a Detroit-area factory before the end of this year.

In a Medium post, company CEO John Krafcik wrote that Waymo would repurpose an existing factory for use in constructing its fleet of self-driving cars, creating new manufacturing jobs in a city that has seen such plants shutter in recent years.

{mosads}”Today, we’re excited to announce that we’ve found the perfect facility in Detroit. We will partner with American Axle & Manufacturing to repurpose an existing facility, bringing a workforce back to an area where jobs in the automotive industry were recently lost,” Krafcik wrote.

“We wanted this facility to benefit from a location in southeast Michigan — the heart of the American automotive industry — and its strong talent base,” he continued. “We began looking for a facility that would allow us to quickly get up and running by mid-2019, while offering us the flexibility to continue to grow and expand our operations in Michigan over time and where there was a strong pool of talent across engineering, operations, and fleet coordination.”

The company previously announced in January that it would seek to center its manufacturing in Michigan, while noting that the plan would create “hundreds” of jobs in the area related to autonomous vehicles.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) celebrated Waymo’s announcement in the press release, thanking the company for “continuing the city’s momentum and further cementing Michigan as a leader in mobility and the epicenter of advanced automotive manufacturing.”

“Today’s announcement by Waymo shows that the City of Detroit remains at the center of the future of the auto industry,” added Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (D).

“Waymo could have located the world’s first 100% dedicated Level 4 autonomous vehicle factory anywhere,” Duggan said. “We deeply appreciate the confidence John Krafcik and the Waymo team are showing in the Motor City.”