Waymo has been researching autonomous driving technology for more than 10 years and is now finally starting to build cars?

Waymo, the Google-affiliated self-driving car company, said it has selected a factory in Detroit, the United States, to mass-produce self-driving cars, seeking to build the cars of the future in this long-established American automobile industrial base.

On the same day, Waymo CEO John Krafcik said in a blog post that Waymo will work with American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM) to lease and reuse the existing Detroit factory, which will be operational in mid-2019.

Waymo reportedly said in January 2019 that it had chosen Michigan, where Detroit is located, as its first production base, saying it would receive incentives from the public-private partnership Michigan Economic Development Corporation and create up to 400 autonomous driving-related jobs over time.

While competition in the self-driving car space is fierce, Waymo is generally considered the industry leader. The company has already started operating a robot taxi service in Arizona and plans to expand operations over time.

Global automakers, large technology companies, and numerous startups are all flocking to the field of autonomous vehicles, but experts predict that it will take several years for autonomous driving systems to be fully deployed, as there are many challenges in both software and regulation.

General Motors and Uber are working on mass production of self-driving cars, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently announced that the company plans to launch a robot taxi service in 2020. They are all competitors of Waymo.

Waymo has been developing self-driving technology for a decade but has disclosed few new details.

Currently, Waymo is modifying Chrysler Pacifica cars for its self-driving fleet. In March 2018, Waymo said it would work with Jaguar to produce up to 20,000 cars by 2022, making about 1 million trips a day.

American Axle, the Detroit factory that Waymo is cooperating with this time, was founded in 1994. It was originally a private investment group. After purchasing five automobile factories sold by General Motors, it transformed into an OEM automobile manufacturer.

In November 2018, General Motors announced that it would halt production at five North American auto assembly plants and eliminate 15,000 jobs. In 2020, production at all GM's Detroit plants will end. However, Fiat Chrysler said in February 2019 that it would invest $4.5 billion in five auto plants in Michigan and create 6,500 jobs.