Michigan cannot expect to win the future of the industry through legacy alone.
That was one of the key messages from MichAuto’s 2025 State of Automobility report.
Released Dec. 10, the report offers the latest insights into Michigan’s role in the global automotive landscape as well as key data and an overview of industry assets.
In addition to extensive data on the automotive and mobility industry, the report identifies the forces of change shaping the industry’s future, addressing both the weaknesses that threaten Michigan’s global leadership and the strengths that reinforce it. The report also features keys to what the state can do to ensure its signature industry’s future success and how businesses can navigate the rapidly evolving — and increasingly complex — environment.
The industry faces a unique time and set of challenges – meeting today’s consumer demands, while building the mobility solutions of tomorrow. Further, it must do all of this amid unprecedented disruption, including rapid development of new technologies, fluctuating trade policy, and nostalgic fondness for an industry that once was.
To emerge stronger from these circumstances, the state must rally behind a bold, cohesive agenda rooted in embracing innovation, nimbly responding to evolving consumer and industry needs, and diversifying its legacy manufacturing expertise into AI, automation, machine learning, and other related fields.
Ready or not, these forces of change are underway and taking hold across the state’s top national and global competitors. It is time for Michigan to unite and innovate or be left behind in the industry it created.