Painting The Industry Green

Ford reemphasized it's view that green technology is key to not only the success of itself or future auto makers but the viability of having a healthy economy in Michigan. While most of us live in citys that aren't dependent on one industry, there are many cities that rely heavily, sometimes completely, on the success of a single company. 


One thing that has always been part of the Ford brand is the channeling of it's heritage in everything they do. Very Detroit, very American, very unlike anything the automotive industry has been moving towards. Yet, they've seemed to have found a place for it in their vision moving forward; 


“While Michigan is the home of the auto industry, the trends affecting our industry offer a great opportunity to make it the home of a variety of other industries as well,” said Bill Ford. “We are heading in the right direction to grow Michigan by putting the right policies in place and investing in Michigan’s future.”


How wonderful would it be if Ford were to lead the industry toward other forms of mobility, outside the scope of the automobile, as urban areas become increasingly congested. After all, at the core, they are a mobility company.

The costs associated with redefining or reinventing automobile use and similar moves are tremendous of course. Ford has spent nearly $1 billion in electric vehicle investment alone. But believes it's absolutely necessary it become a core competency for Ford in the 21st century.

This may be one place where we would like to see more big picture thinking come from Michigan. We agree that innovative technology and automobile should be tied at the hip, and it can only mean good things for the state of Michigan which has already seen a large increase in jobs associated with high technology. But what about adding an alternative mobility division at Ford? Where the automobile is taken out of the equation. Where mobility is at the center of research and development, and the simple concept of helping people reach a destination leads the conversation. 

Organizational transformations are difficult to achieve. The motivations of Mr Ford or the vision which he is trying to instill at Ford and Michigan may take some time to reach formidable adoption. But at least in rhetoric, it's nice to see the vision in print, and to hear that it includes putting pressure on policy makers to insure that nothing hold entrepreneurs and innovators from bringing sustainable ideas to production.