Gary Shapiro, Chief Executive of the Consumer Electronics Association talks to Martin Kahl about the importance of the two-way relationship between the automotive and CE industries, and the key role that automotive OEMs and suppliers play at CES
The consumer electronics and automotive industries have finally begun to converge in the cockpit. Are you surprised it has taken this long for it to happen?
I am thrilled that it is happening. Consumers are looking at the technology in cars and it is a very influential part of their buying decision. People want what they have in their homes on the go – they want it in their car and also tied into safety features and everything else.
There has been talk of an emerging gulf between Silicon Valley and Detroit. Do you agree?
I have a home in Detroit and travel to Silicon Valley; I am also leader of the Consumer Electronics Association, and the CES, and I see those two cities and philosophies growing very close together. Silicon Valley sees its future as mobile; part of being mobile is the automobile. Just about every car company has established a presence in Silicon Valley, and Silicon Valley travels to Detroit, so to speak. There is no question that there is a conflict: where consumers used to want to know about 0-60, now they want to know about the technologies in the car, how they can take their home and mobile environment with them.
The ability of car companies to allow their innovation cycles to integrate the latest technology is a challenge. It used to be a war, now it is a symbiotic relationship where technology companies are working with car companies to ensure their cars are upgradable. And instead of being enemies, there is no question that car companies and technology companies are strategic partners now. There has been a dramatic shift, from a quasi-hostile environment ten years ago, to car companies now being unable to innovate in the cockpit as quickly as aftermarket companies.
Many new companies coming into the automotive industry are non-traditional suppliers, particularly in the infotainment market. Do you see them struggling to win business from OEMs, or are OEMs ceding control and allowing them in?
I would never say that car companies are ceding control. Car companies want to ensure that they can make money, and create products that consumers will buy, maintaining the integrity and safety which they need to provide. They also want to be viewed as welcoming of innovation and technology and that is why there are strategic partnerships forming. There are great companies out there saying they want to be technology leaders. They are global companies, innovative, sensitive to cultural and market differences – whether in terms of the design or the colour scheme or the icons. This is a great opportunity for technology companies and car companies to come together.
There is clearly plenty that the automotive industry can learn from consumer electronics. Is there anything that consumer electronics can learn from the automotive industry, or is it a one-way street?
Oh, it is definitely a two-way street. Over the next 20 years, we will see a technological transformation to driverless vehicles, and that has many ramifications. If you have driverless vehicles, you have essentially a home environment in the car that could be used for all sorts of consumer electronic products. There are ramifications that affect the fundamentals of an economy, from the insurance industry to car ownership concepts; the effects of shift to driverless cars are huge, and it is going to require a partnership between the automotive industry, the technology industry and all other stakeholders that are out there to get to this destination. The destination is, clearly, an environment where people can get to where they want, have a great experience along the way, and they can do it in total safety.
In order for that to be successful, it needs to happen across the vehicle parc, and the majority of cars in any country are not connected – and cannot be connected – opening up opportunities in the aftermarket. What role will vehicle manufacturers and the big suppliers play in the aftermarket?
Traditionally, the aftermarket has been the pacesetter. Smartphones got into cars through the aftermarket. We are going towards a future that will certainly involve the driverless car, with greater levels of safety and collision avoidance. There is a clear path from passive to active collision avoidance, alerts and autonomy. It will be a combination of aftermarket and OEM, and it will be in ways we cannot predict – but it will almost certainly involve collaboration. Governments will step in with mandates; as long as that is done in a positive way which does not force us to freeze or regress technology, I think we are okay.
The great debate in the US today is over backup alert systems. A generation ago it was about airbags, and a generation before that it was about safety belts. These become technologies that you come to rely on.
In the past, you would learn about things through rental cars, but I do not think that is the case anymore. Take the example of a rental company charging you per day for navigation: it is free on your smartphone! Fleet car companies are no longer a way of introducing technology. The aftermarket and the car companies themselves have leapfrogged beyond that.
Martin Kahl is the Editor of Automotive World
