Originally uploaded September 19, reloaded October 4th.
Wednesday, September 17th, MBN was on the road to Detroit for CAR - the Center for Automotive Research's 60th annual Management Briefing Seminars. The event moved from The Grand Traverse Resort & Spa to Michigan Central the refurbished railroad hub in the city.
This interview was with Javad Baqersad, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Interim Department Head, Kettering University, Flint, Michigan.
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Overview of CAR MBS & 2025 Edition:
The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) returns with its flagship Management Briefing Seminars (MBS) 2025, scheduled for September 15–17 in Detroit, hosted in the iconic Michigan Central Station. This relocation signals a bold renewal, marrying automotive heritage with forward-looking mobility innovation.
The MBS platform is built to convene leaders across original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers, mobility services, government, and infrastructure, enabling connection at the nexus of policy, technology, and business strategy.
CAR’s 2025 tagline—“a new era, a new home”—underscores the intent to redefine expectation. MBS is positioning itself not merely as an industry conference, but as a decision-making engine: the place where executives, strategists, and policymakers gather to debate the future of mobility under one roof.
Content will explore major disruptions in the sector: electrification, autonomous systems, infrastructure, regulatory reform, and sustainable business models. Panel sessions and keynotes will examine how shifting global competition, supply chain sovereignty, and policy uncertainty challenge legacy businesses — and empower new entrants.
The agenda promises curated sessions across themes: policy and regulation, technology foresight, industry transformation, and strategic planning. CAR will deliver resources through the Whova app and partner portals — slides, video, and supplemental materials — ensuring attendees can revisit content long after the event.
Selecting Detroit and Michigan Central Station is deeply symbolic. It reflects a belief in returning to the roots of American mobility while leaning into reinvention. The venue choice embodies the tension the industry faces: honoring legacy while disrupting its own foundations.
For businesses and stakeholders, MBS 2025 offers several tangible value propositions:
Policy Intelligence: gain insights into regulatory trends, infrastructure planning, and legislative shifts critical to mobility investments.
Strategic Exposure: thought leadership, scenario planning, and competitive benchmarking beyond daily operations.
Network Leverage: depth of access — from OEM C-suite to technology firms to government actors — opening doors for partnerships, investment, and collaboration.
Content Longevity: recorded keynotes, slides, and materials will endure, making MBS a reference resource, not just a live event.
Ecosystem Alignment: bringing together fragmented actors in mobility to foster alignment around standards, strategy, and shared goals.
Challenges remain. The agenda is still in flux, meaning attendees must remain adaptable. Logistics of Detroit, legacy industry expectations, and maintaining inclusion for smaller firms will require careful curation and execution by CAR.
In short, MBS 2025 aims to be more than a conference — it wants to be a turning point in mobility strategy. By marrying Detroit’s symbolism with future-forward content, CAR seeks to reset how the auto/ mobility ecosystem convenes, defines direction, and collectively moves forward in an era of rapid transformation.