Is it about the car?

20 January 2014

The annual Detroit Motor Show is a key opportunity for US automakers to show their muscle, both literally and metaphorically. General Motors led with the new Corvette while Ford showed off its F-150 pick-up the latest incarnation of the best-selling car in the US market.

But actually, if you want to understand a bit more about the current direction of the global auto industry, you shouldnt bother with Detroit. The real action was a week earlier at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

This year auto exhibitors included Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes and Toyota.

It was CES where Ford chose to reveal the 2015 Mustang in the metal, along with SYNC AppLink which lets drivers talk to the car to control popular iPhone and Android apps.

This was also where Google announced it is working with Audi, Honda, GM and Hyundai to interface its Android operating system directly with onboard car systems and Audi revealed the interior of the next TT with a totally digital display and integrated tablet computer. Then there was the Bosch self-parking system, Hyundai working with Google Glass on pre-start functions (such as vehicle warm-up) and BMWs latest ConnectedDrive, which links your car journey to public transport and tells you if it would be faster to take the train.

I could go on, but you probably get the picture.

There is plenty of evidence that Generation Y is not terribly interested in cars. In the UK, the percentage of teenagers with provisional driving licences has fallen to 36%, but I guarantee theyve all got SmartPhones.

So, the manufacturers realise the future is not going to be about the car; and maybe it never was. When Prince wrote Little red Corvette, baby youre much too fast he wasnt talking about the car but then he probably didnt have a mobile phone in mind, either!

Rupert Saunders

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