CES is Becoming the Most Influential Auto Show
Until not long ago, the landscape of car shows and automotive technology symposia was fairly easy to sort out.
Futuristic concept cars and new car models were typically introduced in a number of international, national and regional auto shows that attracted car aficionados, auto media, and some coverage from the local newspaper auto section.
If you were more into audio and infotainment systems and car accessories, you’d probably plan to visit the SEMA Show and mingle with a fair number of “pimp my ride” devotees.
On the other hand, if you were interested in automotive research and development and wanted to attend technical presentations about core vehicle technologies and network with like-minded automotive engineers, you would choose SAE’s World Congress. Automotive Standards? Again, SAE.
All of a sudden, everything automotive seems to be happening at the International Consumer Electronics global tradeshow that takes place every January in Las Vegas. CES is no longer only about consumer electronics, home appliances and smartphone accessories. Automakers and major auto suppliers, alongside new vendors trying to get into the automotive market, are there promoting not in-vehicle gadgetry (although there is no shortage of those), but rather to announce cutting edge technologies and products that are bound to shape the future of the transportation industry such as autonomous driving and advanced human-car interaction.
A couple of examples from the upcoming CES 2016 show will illustrate this point:
- Herbert Diess, the chairman of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, will deliver a keynote address on electric mobility. He will also announce the launch an all-electric VW concept car.
- Chevrolet will showcase the new Bolt electric vehicle. A prototype of the Bolt was on display at the 2015 Detroit auto show, but Chevrolet chose to reveal the full production vehicle at CES.
- Delphi will demonstrate its autonomous V2E (vehicle-to-everything) technology that continually communicates with other vehicles, traffic lights, and pedestrians (using a new smartphone-embedded chip.)
Why are these companies flocking to CES to make such major announcements?
Automakers see advanced vehicle technologies, especially infotainment systems and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) as the vanguard of the battle on brand differentiation in a market that cares more about connectivity and infotainment than about engine horsepower and torque.
And CES generates a louder buzz, has greater reach and gets better press coverage outside the traditional automotive circles, predominantly attracting the always-connected gadget-hungry Millennial generation. CES is the new arena for car companies to polish their brand, showcase new in-vehicle technologies and reach future car buyers.
However, the fanfare of CES is not going to be enough to create meaningful differentiation and drive change in an extremely busy space. Consumers, especially Millennials, seem to have a slow but steady dwindling interest in owning cars. They view cars as mere transportation and take advantage of alternatives to car ownership such as Uber and ZipCar.
Furthermore, many advanced in-vehicle features, from ADAS to next generation wireless communication will quickly become commoditized. Various market forces: regulatory agencies, stiff competition among automakers, and proliferation of infotainment systems providers, will lessen differentiation. Car brand loyalty will become as finicky as in consumer electronics.
On a side note, this story may also have an important message for SAE. This global association of more than 138,000 engineers and technical experts has been at the center of automotive technology research, knowledge sharing and standard setting for over a 100 years. It, too, may become a victim of the changes in consumer’s attitude and the commensurate response by automakers and their suppliers. As the focus of technical activity is shifting from traditional mechanical, electrical and hydraulic systems to software and electronic systems, technical symposia and standard bodies (most notably IEEE and AUTOSAR) will be encroaching on SAE’s traditional turf.