Show moving to a new season and losing some of its lustre
2019 marks the end of an era —it’s the last time the North American International Auto Show will be held in January in Detroit, Mich.
As of 2020, the NAIAS moves to June.
Unfortunately, this year’s show was a shadow of its former self; it didn’t have the pomp and pageantry of previous years. In fact, many manufacturers skipped the show entirely. There were no displays or unveils from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche, Audi or even Jaguar and Land Rover, for that matter.
Many German manufacturers opted to unveil cars and auto technology at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, in Las Vegas in early January. It’s a sign of the times — pointing to the importance of auto advancements in technology including autonomous driving, connectivity, and electrification — trends that aren’t going away anytime soon.
At the NAIAS, Nissan took the wraps off the IMs — short for Intelligent Mobility sedan — a concept EV that’s focused on self-driving technology, connectivity, and mobility solutions for the future.
In manual mode, consumers will be able to drive, an estimated range of 600 kms on electric power alone. In autonomous mode, the driver can sit back and relax. The steering wheel disappears into the dashboard, the front seats swivel inward so it’s easier to have a conversation with rear seat passengers, and the headlights and rear light turn blue and flash to warn pedestrians and other drivers of its autonomous status.
Auto tech is the way of the future, according to Denis Le Vot, Chairman, Nissan North America. “We’re working on radars and lidars in the car. In a few years, we’re going to offer things like the car will be able to tell you behind a concrete wall if there’s a spot to park your car or if there is a pedestrian coming and your eyes don’t see them, but the car will,” said Le Vot, during a roundtable discussion at the NAIAS.
Le Vot is referring to Nissan’s Invisible-to-Visible technology, or I2V; it merges virtual reality with the real world. Unveiled at the CES trade show, it will let drivers see items that aren’t within their immediate field of vision. For example, the technology can help drivers see around corners, visualize precise information about traffic jams to figure out alternative routes to drive home, or even create a “virtual passenger” — a 3D augmented-reality avatar to keep you company on the road.
Another trend in the future, the cabin will be transformed into a larger, living-room like space. “The technology of new electric platforms that we are developing with the alliance [Nissan, Renault, Mitsubishi] permits new references in the car business. HVAC disappears so you can have a thin dashboard. When you play with this you don’t need a console because you don’t have anything to put inside. The battery is taking some space today, but when the floor is the battery, which is the case in the Infiniti QX Inspiration concept SUV, then the rules are completely different. Today you have a big engine, the gear boxes, the transmission… When you don’t have that in the future it means the interior is completely different so a B car becomes a C car and a C car becomes a D car in terms of roominess without changing the size,” said Le Vot.
In the QX Inspiration concept SUV, the dashboard is a wide-screen monitor that flows from pillar to pillar. A rectangular steering wheel has its own monitor, too. The steering wheel, pedals and driver displays retain vital driver information, but in autonomous mode, the steering wheel collapses into the dashboard and the pedals retract into the floor, creating more space should the driver wish to hand control over to the vehicle. And on the exterior, slim, aerodynamic cameras replace traditional side-view mirrors — another trend expected to become commonplace in the future.
“The biggest challenge for me is how do we prepare for this because there’s a significant shift in the customer base and we’re going to have a lot more early adopters. We always said we’re a challenging brand but we’re going to become a real challenger — we’re going to challenge the market with a very different product — fully electric or e-power 100 per cent. We’re going to bring some interior designs that are probably not going to please everyone, but hopefully we’ll please the customers we’re going after — the early adopters and millennials,” said Christian Meunier, president, Infiniti Motor Co.
And the possibilities are endless. “In the day when we become more autonomous and where cars don’t crash anymore maybe that day we’ll be able to have glass cubes that we’re driving,” said Karim Habib, Executive Design Director, Infiniti.
The Detroit auto show’s move to June 2020 signifies a shift in the auto industry. It will never be the largest and most prestigious auto show in North America, but other shows — like CES — will take its place as we drive full-throttle ahead into the world of auto tech, electrification, connectivity, and autonomous driving.
