Connected Cars Help Detroit Economy

One way to measure the growth of the connected car market is through its effect on one long-suffering automotive economy, Detroit. There’s ray of hope for a city that desperately needs it: Detroit is now outpacing Silicon Valley in the hiring of scientists, engineers and other assorted nerds who are now hard at work rebuilding the Motor City’s auto industry with a new-generation of innovative, hi-tech vehicles. That’s good news for a city famously described by Homer Simpson’s bartender as: “Livin’ in Mad Max times.”

According to a recent report, Ford is currently in the midst of an unprecedented techie hiring spree. The company is not only closely following graduates of highly respected tech schools like Stanford, they’re also inviting many of them to Detroit for ritzy wining and dining sessions.

“We have a whole slew of job postings out there currently,” said Ford connected service solutions director, Doug VanDagens. “We’re just on a growth binge.”

This may come as some surprise when only a couple of years ago Chrysler and General Motors were accepting bailout packages from the U.S. government. Ford avoided that situation in what might have been the greatest American PR move since MacArthur accepted the surrender of Imperial Japan. For a nation all too accustomed to tax-funded bailouts for crooked Wall Streeters, Ford can be seen as a source of pride for all Americans for sticking it out and finding success.

Detroit auto-manufacturers are generating excitement for cars toting Internet connections with innovative new human-machine interface solutions and greener cars featuring hybrid and electric motors. The new hi-tech auto industry has offered Detroit a fresh start in markets where Ford and GM are already world leaders. Detroit’s in-car telematics and infotainment systems like Sync, MyLink and OnStar (which have birthed an extended network of OEM suppliers) have set the pace in the connected car biz for the rest of the world to follow. Not too shabby for the Motor City that was once known more for stagnation and plant closures than innovation.

Detroit auto industry is taking full advantage of its leadership role in the connected car industry. Preparing for this next wave of car technology, Ford says it’s scouring the tech-o-sphere looking for experts in cloud computing, mobile systems applications, and energy management. It’s possible that the primary destination for graduates in these specialties could be the home of the Lions, Tigers and Wings rather than the home of suntanned California girls.

In Detroit, the new generation of techies from every field will meet the challenges of making electric-car batteries more efficient. They’ll be producing new global positioning systems for tracking nearby gas stations and restaurants. They’ll be integrating in-car networks to allow smartphones, laptops, tablets and other devices to interact with a vehicle.

“There’s a war for talent out there, and it’s only going to get worse,” said industry expert Jim Bazner, VP of MSX International in Southfield, Michigan. “There are hundreds of jobs, and all the automakers are hiring.”