Greg Gardner

Detroit Free Press

Uber will open an autonomous vehicle research center in Wixom by the end of March, the company's head global vehicle development executive said this afternoon at the Automotive News World Congress at the Renaissance Center.

“We will be focused on integrating our technology into automakers’ vehicles,” said Sherif Marakby, Uber vice president of global vehicle development. “We started a few months ago on recruiting."

The Free Press initially reported the project last September, but the ride-hailing service had not identified the location.

"We are having engineers come up to Detroit to meet with Tier 1 suppliers. We've also had discussions with automakers," Marakby said last year. He began working for Uber in April after 25 years at Ford. "What we're realizing is there is a huge, critical mass of talent in the Detroit area."

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Marakby discussed the ride-hailing service's rapid growth in such regions as Los Angeles, Paris and London. Uber research shows that demand for rides usually peaks in the late evening to early morning hours.

"That's when the bars close," Marakby said.

In September, Uber launched a fleet of about 20 automated Ford Fusions in Pittsburgh and later expanded it to about 100 vehicles, including some Volvo X90 plug-in hybrid SUVs.

Uber and the Swedish automaker are investing $150 million each to develop the next stage of their autonomous car strategies.

About 15 million Americans will use a ride-hailing service this year, a figure projected to grow to more than 20 million by 2020, according to eMarketer.com, a research website that studies the sharing economy.

The company is still privately held and lost about $1.2 billion in the first half of 2016 and another $800 million between July and the end of September, according to Bloomberg News. Despite the losses, Uber's growth rate has driven venture capital firms to estimate its value at $68 billion.

Much of the losses came from China where Uber last year turned its business over to rival Didi Chuxing, which gave Uber a 17% stake in its own business and $1 billion.

In Detroit, there are more than 500 Uber drivers. About 250,000 active riders can expect a driver to show up within seven minutes of requesting a ride through the Uber app, Marakby said.

The upstart company ran afoul of the California Department of Motor Vehicles when it began testing a fleet of self-driving vehicles in San Francisco. The company moved the testing to the Phoenix area.

Why not just register for a license?

“Uber headquarters is in San Francisco," Marakby said. "We will continue to work with the California Department of Motor Vehicles to get the proper registration."

Contact Greg Gardner: ggardner@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregGardner12.