Why the Automobile Industry is Moving to Silicon Valley

Photo by Flickr user, Audi USA

It's no secret - Silicon Valley is the tech hub of the world.  Apple, Google, Facebook, Tesla, Intel, HP and endless more of the world's leaders in tech innovation call this southern chunk of the Bay Area home.  And with Silicon Valley's reputation as a breeding ground for innovation, it should come as no surprise that the area has become an attractive spot for major automobile manufacturers to make their beds.

The automobile industry and the tech industry are becoming increasingly intertwined.  And the smarter cars get, the more the auto industry finds itself looking to tech to stay on the cutting edge.  One company that is making no secret of their presence in the area is Ford.  The auto giant just unveiled a new 25,000 square foot research and development facility in the Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto.  And to further integrate their facility into the Silicon Valley community,  they appointed former Apple Inc. engineer, Dragos Maciuca, to sit at the helm of the operation.

While this isn't Ford's first research facility in the area, it marks an exponentially larger effort by the company to get involved in the tech sector.  Their previous facility, which opened in 2012, was home to only eight engineers.  This one will house as many as 125 by the end of the year - most of them specializing in software.

Most major automobile manufacturers have at least some R&D presence in Silicon Valley, but Ford's has become the most pronounced.  At the unveiling of the new facility, Ford CEO Mark Fields said, “As we think about coming to Silicon Valley, we want to be viewed as part of the ecosystem here.  Silicon Valley is a marketplace of ideas and it’s important to be here and be a part of that."

Mark Fields, CEO of Ford - Photo by Flickr User, CC Chapman

And which idea are they most immediately in the market for?  Ford - like Google and several other automobile companies - is working to develop self-driving vehicles.  Their "Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Research Vehicle" has been over a year in the works now, but at the unveiling of their new facility they announced that they would be partnering with Stanford University to further develop it.

With tech giants like Google working on self-driving cars of their own, it begs the question - are tech and auto partners or competitors?  For now, the relationship is mutually beneficial.  As Ford CTO Raj Nair put it, “I don’t think of it as a matter of rivalry, more of an opportunity for partnerships. We’re increasingly seeing opportunities of technology that are applicable to the car. They’re increasingly seeing car as the biggest consumer electronics device that you can have.”

Whatever comes of the relationship, us Bay Area residents will get to watch it unfold firsthand.  Self-driving cars, cars with built-in WiFi, cars with smart thermometers that adjust depending on whether your headed to or from home.  It's definitely an exciting time, and I for one am happy to have a front seat to it all.

 Source: "Ford Opens New Silicon Valley Research Center Led by Former Apple Engineer"