PALO ALTO, Calif., June 18 (UPI) -- Ford Motor Co. said its new research laboratory in Palo Alto, Calif., would tap into Silicon Valley's talent for mixing creativity and high technology.
The automotive giant opened the facility Monday, The Detroit News reported.
"We have been innovating for more than a century at Ford, but we acknowledge we don't have a monopoly on creativity," Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said in a statement.
"Our new office will complement our existing research efforts by allowing us to tap into the region that has been driving consumer technology forward in recent decades," Ford said.
Many high-tech Silicon Valley companies have headquarters in Palo Alto.
Ford is keeping other research teams operating in Michigan, Germany and China but said it was ready to embrace the California penchant for creating the unexpected.
"We want Silicon Valley to view Ford as a platform that is open, accessible and ready for their innovative ideas and technologies," said Paul Mascarenas, chief technical officer and vice president of Ford Research and Advanced Engineering.
"We are looking for unexpected solutions for the future, and we believe Silicon Valley is the right place to round out our global research organization," he said.
