Dustin Walsh is a reporter for Crain's Detroit Business, an affiliate of Automotive News.
DETROIT -- The 2018 Detroit auto show is the first meaningful attempt to, excuse the use of a political term, normalize the future of driving. More specifically, to connect the dots for the public on how autonomous vehicles are going to creep into their lives.
During the show's opening Sunday at Cobo Center, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told attendees the federal government would introduce new federal autonomous guidelines this summer in an effort to modernize regulations for autonomous cars. She also pleaded with auto executives and media to educate the public on the future of driving, or lack thereof.
Autonomous vehicles are being commercialized more quickly than most experts reckoned -- General Motors petitioned the government last week to test cars that have no steering wheel or pedals, and Ford announced it would advance testing of self-driving cars in a new city this year -- and Detroit's auto show is set to aid in the public's awareness.
In past shows, whether in Detroit or at the ever-more-auto-centric Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Silicon Valley startups and new approaches from suppliers and automakers piqued media and consumers interests. But it always seemed a moonshot, a peek behind the curtain of a far-off future we'd never see anywhere but on film and in elaborate show floor settings.
But the technological fruit of the entire auto spectrum's labor began to ripen in 2017. Google's Waymo autonomous driving unit partnered with Fiat Chrysler, suppliers logged hundreds of thousands of autonomous driving miles, and Tesla maintained meteoric stock prices and glowing headlines with its semi-autonomous capabilities.
But 2018, judging by the tone at the Detroit auto show, will be the year of the incumbent. Ford, GM, FCA, Intel, BlackBerry and other stalwart companies will show off the near-future of autonomous driving.
While new tech firms have contributed 42 percent of U.S. stock market gains since 2014, according to a recent article in The Economist, the aforementioned conventional firms have adapted and have innovated and are commercializing faster than Silicon Valley's tech companies. Automakers are about to bring the autonomous future to scale -- largely through acquisitions and the age-old engineering clout these companies hold.
The auto show is a dichotomy filled with new, more fuel-efficient cars meant to be driven. But pushing further at automaker and supplier displays is the future of driverless cars. It will be evident to the media and consumer alike. Automobili-D, the show's autonomous-focused showcase, will stay open for the first weekend the show is open to the public. And the showcase is far more robust this year than its inaugural go last year.
A recent Deloitte study, only 47 percent of U.S. consumers surveyed felt autonomous cars would be unsafe, significantly down from 2017 where 74 percent felt they would be unsafe.
Automakers are working to build consumers' trust. The Detroit auto show can be a huge step in turning up the volume on that line of communication.
Will they listen?
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