Here are three takeaways from the showroom that reveal the future of the driving experience:
Autonomous technology is accelerating
We tend to associate autonomous driving with expensive Teslas and futuristic concept cars that grace auto-show stages but remain years away from being parked in our driveways. At this year’s show, automakers such as Honda, Toyota and Nissan showed off cars that incorporate autonomous technology into their affordable production models, showing that the era of being completely in control of your car is quickly ending.
“This year is a coming-out party for autonomous technology for production models,” said Josh Clifton, a Nissan spokesman.
At the show, Nissan revealed the 2018 Leaf, the company’s signature electric vehicle. Clifton said that more than half of the 13,000 reservations for the 2018 Leaf incorporate ProPilot technology, which allows vehicles to operate autonomously during single-lane driving on the highway.
Cadillac, Honda, Toyota, Volvo, Mercedes, Audi and BMW also showed off vehicles that incorporated autonomous technology.
“We’re highly engaged in creating a system that assist the driver and, in some cases, take over the driver altogether,” said Donny Nordlicht, a Cadillac spokesman, referring to the company’s hands-free highway driving technology, known as Super Cruise.
