Microsoft is expanding its automotive business unit and replacing its current department head with a Detroit native, the Detroit News reports. "We're doubling down. We're going to increase the headcount and operating expenses by 30 percent this year," said Tom Phillips, a 16-year Microsoft veteran who is becoming the new head of the company's automotive division.

"We know that things are tough for the auto industry, but it's the perfect time to make this investment," Philips said. "There are new customers coming into the market, and they are looking for new experiences."

Microsoft works with a number of automakers; the most notable example being Ford Sync, which lets drivers control their music players, nav systems and cell phones with voice commands.

As part of the same announcement, Microsoft announced that it is now making its "Live Search" technology available to automakers, which will act as the first salvo in the company's automotive unit expansion. For its part, Ford plans to deliver one million Sync installations by the end of 2009, the report said; the current tally is somewhere north of 200,000.