CES 2017 marked 50 years of the world’s biggest tech show and for the car industry this was the most important show yet, with nine makers displaying their vision of the future.
Honda, Toyota, Chrysler and Faraday Future all unveiled brand new self-driving concepts, while BMW and Hyundai demonstrated its latest tech alongside scores of key industry suppliers like Bosch and Panasonic.
The show itself, organised and run by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), now accounts for 2.6 million square feet of exhibition space spread across Las Vegas hotels, parking lots and the huge Convention Centre.
It began 50 years ago in New York with just 117 exhibitors and 17,000 attendees, mainly as a show for manufacturers and retailers, and has now grown to almost 4,000 exhibitors and more than 160,000 attendees including Government officials and industry executives.
• Consumer Electronics Show 2017: news round-up
Over the last half century, 700,000 new products have launched at CES making it the largest innovation event in the world. For car manufacturers, these product reveals at CES have grown rapidly over the last five years or so.
In 2017, total vehicle technology spanned 200,000 square feet with 135 different exhibitors, up from 121 last year.
And while automotive products and tech such as car audio or sat navs have always had a place at CES, it’s only now that manufacturers are seeing the benefits of the show. For example, Nissan was a CES debutant with CEO Carlos Ghosn making a keynote address.
This desire from the automotive industry is driven by the dawn of autonomous vehicles and connected interiors, meaning motoring has never been so closely aligned with technology before.
And that was highlighted during the show by the number of partnerships announced between traditional tech companies and manufacturers - like Audi and NVIDIA. Car manufacturers are teaming up with the best in the business to make sure they're ahead of the game.
It’s only set to grow, too, with CES 2018 already promising to showcase more on connected cities and the “smart” world.
Gary Shapiro, CEO of the CTA, said it was a critical transition period for consumer technology with the Internet of Things including virtual reality, voice recognition and artificial intelligence. He stressed tech and automotive industries were no longer a single market.
He explained: “It’s about connectivity in mobility, with 5G tech it means we will have connectivity in the home and on the go. I think automotive is a part of the story of connectivity and we are seeing increasingly connected cars.
“Vehicle technology is making cars safer and more connected and I think car companies and Government are driving to work towards that.
“It’s not just about cars, though, it’s about other modes of transport. Connected cities will be a key focus of CES 2018.”
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