Everyone’s pretty down on the automotive industry right now.  Here in Michigan, we’re definitely feeling the pain of the changing market.  Some people think that we should just let the OEMs ride the market wave and fail if that’s where it takes them.  Others are concerned with the fallout, not only for the OEMs, but also for their suppliers and the various industries that provide a network of support for employees and their families. 

Personally, I’m not ready to throw in the towel on automotive.  I love cars.  One of my earliest memories is of the upholstery in my parents Pontiac Phoenix hatchback.  (Incidentally, I’m glad the hatchback is regaining favor with American drivers, but that’s a story for another time.)  So I’d like to see us figure out a way to make automotive work in these global economic times, but the issues are complex and I don’t know what the answers are.  

What I do know is that some really great work is being done within the industry to evolve it into something that is sustainable, both economically and environmentally.  We had the opportunity to work on a video for the Johnson Controls NAIAS 2009 “demonstrator” vehicle interior, the re3, this past year.  When they began the development of this interior they realized that they had to rethink everything.  Consumers’ attitudes are changing.  They want smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.  But they still expect the comfort features that they had in their larger vehicles.  Then Johnson Controls looked for ways to renew the industry and the driving experience.  This meant making it a plug-in hybrid (with Johnson Controls lithium ion battery technology), using renewable materials, and reducing mass wherever possible.  But they kept in mind that consumers still wanted comfort features and found ways to respond with electronics, storage and seating innovations. 

Johnson Controls offers the OEMs a way to get more mileage inside their vehicles too.  Take a look to see how:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEMDjUQYWHQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VDHeGjlJww
Recommendation: watch it in HD if your computer can handle it 

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce Morning Edition.  As a marketing communications professional I was impressed with the number of innovators sharing their story at this networking breakfast event--right here in Ann Arbor, right here in Michigan.  

Among them was key sponsor Ann Arbor State Bank, a new start-up in the banking industry. They are to be applauded for joining with other strong local banks in bringing stability and insight to our challenged financial industry. Lumigen is a research, development and manufacturing company of chemiluminescence technology.   Chemiluminescence is the generation of electromagnetic radiation as light by the release of energy from a chemical reaction.  A sample demonstration lit up the room like a spotlight and not a firefly.  The Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative has reduced recidivism by 20% in the state of Michigan in the last two years.  And Zipcar is a new vehicle service that gives you wheels when you want them and enables exciting new forms of alternative transportation.   

One of the key speakers, Dr. David E. Cole, Chairman, Center for Automotive Research, extended the theme.  On the heels of the announcement that Mercedes will open up a new research facility in Ann Arbor, he spoke about other opportunities that are developing based on the retooling of the automotive industry and the important collaborative work going on right now between the labor unions, auto company management, supply chain representatives and the federal government.  This difficult but game-changing work, if it succeeds, will avoid bankruptcy while restructuring to compensate for overcapacity and ultimately strengthen the industry to provide profitable, market-pleasing products going forward.  In conversation afterwards, we spoke about the innovation of Johnson Controls, one of MOVE’s clients, and a recent project developed by its global innovation team headed up by Michael Warsaw in North America.  This project, the re3 vehicle rethinks the small car interior environment.  He remarked that this is an example of Johnson Controls strong history of strategically initiating to bring new ideas to its customers. 

My take-away was that now more than ever all of us in business have the opportunity as  we service our customers to bring forward new ideas based on our expertise that solve problems in ingenious ways--ideas that our customers wouldn’t have had the time or resources to generate. As we do, we shouldn’t feel obligated to have everything totally baked before we demo an idea.  Let our customers collaborate with us in tuning the innovation to their specific applications. If we do, we’ll see a new edition of innovation.  Bring it!