Autotech conference focused on connectivity, driver assistance and autonomy

Introduction

The Autotech: Detroit conference brought together thousands of attendees and hundreds of sponsors and exhibitors for a two-day show in suburban Detroit in June. Keynotes, sessions and many discussions on the show floor emphasized the importance of connectivity and autonomy — whether partial or full—for vehicles in both production and development stages. The era of vehicles as data centers on wheels is here, and vehicle technology vendors must strive to make that transition as smooth as possible to bring value to the industry.

Electrification and shared mobility were key topics at Autotech: Detroit, but connected vehicle services and autonomy took the spotlight. Original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, tier 1 suppliers and technology providers are all bracing themselves for the coming of connected, autonomous vehicles in the years ahead. Consumer surveys show adoption and comfort levels with advanced driver assistance systems, or ADAS, and autonomy to be nascent, but we expect that to shift sharply upward as new vehicles coming on the market include more driver-assist functions in their base models. Meanwhile, Autotech: Detroit might not have had the same level of attendance as in the pre-pandemic days, but this was an in-person show with packed keynotes and a full exhibitor floor. That created a sense of a return to normal for the conference, which is strong on the networking front, even if its educational sessions leaned a bit toward vendor advertisements.

Show details

Autotech: Detroit had about 50 exhibitors and 2,000 attendees, with Informa PLC estimating that about 25% of the audience comprised automakers, often called OEMs, and another 20% represented tier 1 automotive parts suppliers. Sponsors were mainly technology, media and telecom providers to the automotive industry: telcos like AT&T Inc., T-Mobile US Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.; connected and autonomous vehicle technology vendors such as Sirius XM Holdings Inc., TomTom NV, Green Hills Software Inc. and HERE Global BV; and industry service providers such as Toptal LLC, Tata Elxsi Ltd. and Grape Up.

Popular topics: Connectivity, autonomy

While sessions touched on all the different aspects of the well-known mobility CASE acronym — connected, autonomous, shared and electric — connected and autonomous vehicle technologies seemed to be the conference's main focus. That makes sense, as those two topics will serve as the primary drivers in the conversation about the future of mobility.

ADAS is growing in popularity but still has a way to go. About 30% of consumers say their vehicles do not have driver-assist technology and that it is unlikely their next one will, according to a recent 451 Research Voice of the Consumer User Landscape: Endpoints & IoT, Connected Car survey. The truth is that number is likely even lower than the survey indicates, in part due to how different consumers define driver-assist technology. All new vehicles in the U.S. must come with a backup camera, for example, and that is considered ADAS.

Consumer comfort with autonomy is another question. Only 14% of survey respondents said they would be comfortable with so-called driver-out autonomy, where there is no need for a backup human driver. Moreover, nearly one in four still said they want no autonomy at all, which would mean no driver-assist technologies.

During one session, Here Technologies discussed some of the many challenges in transitioning from driver-assisted technology to complete autonomy, with no humans behind the wheel. Perception sensors can fail, so autonomous vehicle technology companies must have a fail-safe in place, either with sensor redundancy or — as HERE would naturally suggest — non-sensor location technology. Similarly, autonomous vehicle technology must plan for the route ahead, which requires data beyond what perception sensors can provide. Having up-to-date road, traffic and weather conditions on the route ahead can assist those autonomous vehicle journeys.

Several keynotes and sessions explored the future of connected vehicle services — payment services, infotainment and customized cabin features. OEM Stellantis NV discussed its partnership with Amazon.com Inc. for STLA SmartCockpit for future vehicles. The offering will have a user interface that includes inputs for touch, voice, glances and gestures, and will be able to provide services like navigation, joining conference calls, augmented reality capabilities, enabling vehicle functions such as defrosting your windshield, and e-commerce payments.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. and government representatives from Orange County in California and the state of Michigan talked about a future that includes automated, dynamic, digital tolling, as well as services to find and pay for parking and refueling/recharging. Finally, AT&T talked about its in-vehicle Wi-Fi — paid for as an add-on to a standard cellular data plan — that can enable streaming media and gaming to passengers in the car. The company provides a rotating schedule of special programming only available to customers with that add-on, as a lure to pay beyond a standard data plan.

^{This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.}

^{451 Research is part of S&P Global Market Intelligence. For more about 451 Research, please contact 451ClientServices@spglobal.com.}