The Detroit News
April 23, 2026
Breana Noble
The stakes for Michigan’s 2026 governor election include automotive businesses going elsewhere if the state doesn’t invest in people, places and innovation, said Glenn Stevens Jr., Executive Director of the Detroit Regional Chamber’s automotive arm.
Dozens of representatives from automakers, suppliers, startups and other automotive industry stakeholders met on Thursday across two roundtable discussions at Plante Moran’s offices in Southfield to discuss what the Great Lakes State needs to do to maintain its relevance amid conditions unlike anything the industry has seen, Stevens said. They were two of 12 such sessions being held in six cities across the state to gather input for the development of an automobility policy roadmap expected to be released in August ahead of the November election.
“It’s extremely consequential,” Stevens said of voters’ decisions on the next governor. “We need a leader who will be able to look at our signature industry and all of the growing industries as well as invest in innovation, and they are going to have to lead our state into the future. And the key thing they are going to have to do is reach across the aisle to get that done. We need to stop politicizing EVs, and we need to enable EVs, because the world is proliferating EVs.”
MichAuto identified artificial intelligence and automation, China and global competition, speed of innovation, trade and regulatory policy, and localization and manufacturing supply chain evolution as the five “forces” that are creating the challenges that could risk the future of Michigan’s leading industry.