Lear opened its new "Innovation Center" in downtown Detroit hoping to capture some of the energy and creativity driving the city.
Mega-supplier Lear Corp. opened its new “Innovation Center” in downtown Detroit hoping to capture some of the energy and creativity sparking a renaissance in the old urban heart of the Motor City.
Matt Simoncini, Lear’s president and chief executive, told reporters Lear plans to use the new center to work on advanced products that are three to seven years away from production.
One example of that type of product is the company’s intelligent seat that fits a driver’s contour and is also capable of monitoring a motorist’s physical condition. The seat also comes equipped with features such as individualized entertainment options and white noise. It is already in development, Simoncini said.
The center, which Lear has developed inside the 119-year-old, 35,000-square-foot, six-story building that once served as a cigar factory, will house roughly 100 employees, who will be given the assignment of searching for new ideas that can be implemented in the future. Some employees will also work on code for the electronic boxes Lear sells to automakers, Simoncini said.
(Tesla warns of slow Model 3 deliveries. For more, Click Here.)
“This isn’t about charity. We think this will give us a competitive edge,” added Simoncini, noting that globally automotive work is a small fish in a much larger pond, but in Detroit it is the center of attention.
Lear plans to use Innovation Center to work on advanced products that are anywhere from three to seven years away from production.
Most of the staff will be designers and engineers and Lear hopes to cultivate the unique sense of style that has been part of Detroit’s character over the years, Simoncini said.
The center is also expected to help Lear recruit new talent. In addition to the staff assigned to the building, which faces historic Capitol Park, paid interns from the College of Creative Studies and Wayne State University will also work at the site.
(Are these radical designs in VW’s future electric vehicle plans? Click Here for the story.)
“We plan to leverage the rapidly developing infrastructure in the Central Business District as well as the concentration of arts, science and technology assets in the Capitol Park area to fully participate in the transformation that is underway in the automotive business and to take our company to the next level,” he said.
With almost 90% of its furniture designed or built in Detroit or other Michigan locations and featuring noted local graffiti artists, the Lear Innovation Center includes an open first-floor gallery and showroom, modern office environments and work spaces designed to promote creativity as well as a rooftop garden for special events.
Lear purchased the historic building in September 2015 from Bedrock, the real estate company that looks after Dan Gilbert’s interests in downtown Detroit. After acquiring the building, Lear worked to have the building restored close to its original Victorian Romanesque exterior design, while the interior renovations exude an industrial, raw, authentic Detroit style and aesthetic.
(To find out more about Apple’s plans to ditch Project Titan, Click Here.)
Based in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Lear Corp. is one of the world’s top suppliers of automotive seating and electrical distribution systems and it serves every major automaker in the world.