But in the offices adjoining the plant, a company called Freescale employs 180 people designing hi-tech automotive systems.

BBC: Silicon Britain: Inside the country's tech clusters

Last Friday, Volkswagen opened up its Electronic Research Laboratory (ERL) to journalists, showing off new areas of high-tech automotive research.

FORBES: The Irony Of Volkswagen Putting Google Street View In Audi

His company works with more than 27, 000 businesses in the global arena in order to help them both design and service products in manufacturing industries such as industrial equipment, automotive, high tech and electronics, aerospace and defense, retail, consumer, and medical devices.

FORBES: The New Manufacturing Lifecycle: An Interview With PTC's Hepplemann

European markets are also trading in the green, with strong gains in the tech and automotive sectors.

FORBES: Apple Makes Pick on LCDs, Gold Breaks Record

However, tech firms like Google, Canon and Sony, and automotive companies like BMW, Daimler and Michelin, dominate that region.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Although Detroit has gotten some attention lately as a new home for tech start-ups, very few of them, surprisingly, are focused on the automotive industry.

FORBES: How GM Lost -- And Found -- The Path To Innovation

Originally designed for an automotive parts manufacturer, Plex Online is being adopted by aerospace and defense, food and beverage, high tech and electronics, industrial machinery, and precision metal manufacturers.

FORBES: Connect