Ford has acquired Michigan Central Station and plans to transform the former train station into the centerpiece of the OEM’s new campus in Detroit’s Corktown area – the focus for Ford’s future mobility strategy. The Corktown campus will see Ford and its partners work on autonomous and electric vehicles, as well as development of a new transportation operating system that will include connected vehicles, roads, parking and public transit.
“Michigan Central Station is a place that, in many ways, tells the story of Detroit over the past century,” says Bill Ford, the company’s executive chairman. “We at Ford want to help write the next chapter, working together in Corktown with the best startups, the smartest talent, and the thinkers, engineers, and problem-solvers who see things differently – all to shape the future of mobility and transportation.”
The acquisition of Michigan Central Station follows on from the OEM’s purchase of the former Detroit Public Schools Book Depository, two acres of land, the site of an old brass factory, and an additional refurbished former factory in Corktown, which will be the home to Ford’s electric and autonomous vehicle business teams.
