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Driveshaft supplier Dana Inc. is aiming to open a $9 million electric vehicle tech center in suburban Detroit, where it plans to add up to 150 engineers and supporting positions.

The Maumee, Ohio-based manufacturer plans to upfit and customize new space in Novi, Mich., according to a brief from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. The tech center is expected to be around 50,000 square feet, but the exact location has not yet been decided.

In exchange for the promise of creating up to 150 jobs “with wages well above” the average in Oakland County, the MEDC approved Tuesday a $1.5 million Michigan Business Development Program grant. The city of Novi is also offering a tax abatement.

The incentives swayed Dana to build out the EV center in Michigan as opposed to competing sites in other states, the MEDC said.

“The Company is attracted to locating this facility in Novi due to the synergy and ease of collaboration with the corporate facilities nearby,” the brief said. “Incentive assistance is necessary to offset the additional costs with opening a new technology center.” read more

An agreement between Audi of America and Verizon allows the German premium brand to offer customers faster connectivity speeds and better enable communications between vehicles and with infrastructure to improve safety.

A new joint venture between Magna International Inc. and LAN Manufacturing Group LLC plans to open a seating plant at the former site of Sakthi Automotive Group in southwest Detroit and create 390 jobs.

Magna, a Canadian automotive supply giant, and the Detroit-based, minority-owned supplier expect a capital investment of up to $18.1 million at the Bedrock-owned industrial site, where the companies will make seats for Ford Motor Co. trucks and SUVs, according to a Magna news release.

Production at the existing 296,000-square-foot building in southwest Detroit is expected to start in the second quarter of 2023.

The Dan Gilbert-owned real estate company bought the site for $38.5 million in 2020, a year after the defunct Sakthi closed its plant. Sakthi, whose former CEO is in nonautomotive-related legal trouble, supplied knuckle and steering arms at the plant just five years before folding.

Sakthi’s failure was a blow for the city and Mayor Mike Duggan, who touted the plant with a groundbreaking ceremony and tour after its completion. The Magna-LAN plans signaled potential redemption for the site. read more

Washington has grown increasingly concerned that low U.S. production of minerals essential for the construction of future technologies could leave it beholden to China.