TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder tells an audience of auto-industry people how great they are, but stays neutral when asked about U.S. presidential candidates. He does offer his thoughts on “angry” politics, though.
During a Wednesday Q&A after the governor’s speech at the CAR Management Briefing Seminars here, moderator Jay Baron, CEO of the Center for Automotive Research, notes Snyder, a Republican, has declined to support either Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton for president.
“But what should we be asking them?” Baron asks Snyder.
The governor replies: “I’ll be on the soapbox for a couple of minutes and say we have way too many angry people. We saw it in the primary. Having anger as a motivator doesn’t lead to a good outcome.”
Snyder, who has faced the wrath of many people who claim he did not act decisively and early enough in the Flint contaminated-water crisis, adds:
“In my five years in office, I haven’t fought with another public official. It’s not healthy. Have you ever seen blame solve a problem?
“We have serious problems to solve. We’re doing it (in Michigan) in a better way than the rest of the country. People will have to speak up and say, ‘We’re tired of all the arguing.’”
Other than that commentary on political rancor, most of Snyder’s annual appearance at the conference centers on the importance of the state’s leading industry and Michigan’s efforts to foster future automotive initiatives.
Those include signing a memorandum of understanding later in the day with the premier of Ontario, Canada, to work together on mobility projects.
Snyder also promotes Mcity, an autonomous-car test site in Ann Arbor, as well as a planned companion facility, the Center for Mobility at the Willow Run site where World War II bombers were built. The state has a purchase agreement to buy 350 acres (142 ha) for industry testing of self-driving cars.
He touts a new Planet M brand campaign aimed at positioning Michigan as a center for innovative transportation and mobility research.
As a Michigan booster, the governor even promotes what some people consider a climatic downside: snow. He says its seasonal state presence will allow vehicle developers to see how autonomous-car prototypes perform under tricky road conditions.
“Snow is important,” Snyder says. “We always get picked on because of it. But in this industry, snow is your biggest challenge. Well, we got it, and there’s an opportunity to use it.”
After his on-stage appearance, Snyder speaks with journalists. Here’s an edited transcript of that Q&A.
Q: What is the memorandum of understanding between Michigan and Ontario you are signing today?
A: It’s just an agreement on how we can collaborate more on innovation. Ontario and Michigan are strong in the auto industry. What are future happenings in the industry, and how we can get together on that? And can we come up with common standards?
Q: Are there specific initiatives or commitments in the memorandum?
A: No, it’s a framework to start those discussions. Let’s form working groups to say, “How can we collaborate in different areas, such as mobility?”
Silicon Valley, Potholes and Trump
Q: How hard is it to compete against Silicon Valley, where a lot of self-driving car testing is happening? That’s formidable competition, isn’t it?
A: I don’t know if I would use the word “competition.” They fundamentally have a different core than we do. I don’t expect to see everything happening in one place. We clearly have leadership in it today.
Q: But does it make sense to have Google testing its autonomous cars in California and the same testing going on here? Shouldn’t there be a central place?
A: That is what we are trying to do with this Center for Mobility. It is to make that here in Michigan. It is not how Google does it on its own, or any particular provider. It is how it interfaces with all the other vehicles on the road and with the infrastructure. There needs to be controlled environments to do that testing. We have the best spot to do it. We’ve got roads we can dedicate to this purpose and make a smart investment. And we have snow.
Q: We also have potholes. How do we get autonomous cars to follow lanes when the Michigan road infrastructure is still a challenge?
A: We have road resources now. We have major investments going into our roads. But that’s a realistic question. There will still be potholes in the U.S. and around the world. Again, (with autonomous-car testing) it is one thing to do it in theory; it is another to do it in practice. I told people at Willow Run we probably should have some potholes just for that very reason.
A: This is a great conference for one of the state’s core industries. I view this as an important part of my role. That’s why I come every year.
Q: Donald Trump has spoken out frequently about NAFTA and wanting to make big changes to it or to scrap it. Do you have concerns about that for the auto industry if he were to become president?
A: Again, I am not going to get into the presidential elections. But generally, I have been very pro-trade in terms of saying it is good. We’re becoming more global. We’re creating export opportunities. We’ve seen export growth go up significantly in Michigan for the last few years.
