Adapting to the times: communication technologies are shaping the future of the industry.As the 2008 North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. International Auto Show An auto show, or motor show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is commonly attended by automobile manufacturers. Most auto shows occur once or twice a year. (NAIAS) dawns in Detroit, the auto industry greets it at the threshold At the Threshold, whose son Lil E. Tee won the 1992 Kentucky Derby for W. Cal Partee, died March 23 of a stroke at Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine in West Lafayette, Ind. The 21-year-old stallion stood at Wayne Houston's Stoney Creek Horse Farm near Mooreland, Ind. of yet another transformation that will leave a changed industry in its wake. Given the number of transformations this industry has undergone, one could be forgiven for assuming 2008 will be merely the latest in a long line of turbulent years. There's good reason to think, however, that the last time the industry underwent this magnitude of change, Walter Reuther
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Reuther's name calls to mind perhaps the biggest change 2008 will bring to Detroit. The transformative agreements signed between Chrysler, Ford and GM and the UAW (spelling) UAW - Misspelling of "IAW"? were signed in 2007, but the most dramatic changes they entail will begin in the coming year. Detroit is about to change how it goes about being Detroit. This change is not en evolution but an aptation to the landscape 2008 brings to this town. International automakers now claim about half of the light vehicle market in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . They have brought with them a vehicle development and manufacturing paradigm that left Chrysler, Ford and GM with no choice but no transform to stay competitive. now that they've made their most important adjustments, a chess game with critical implications is underway. As the automotive industry The automotive industry is the industry involved in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and sale of motor vehicles. In 2006, more than 69 million motor vehicles, including cars and commercial vehicles were produced worldwide. changes, the product it makes is also evolving. The cars automakers are developing for tomorrow's consumers have never been more sophisticated. Alternative power trains such as hybrids and flex-fuel vehicles are not only changing the propulsion that drives our cars--they are changing our role in the environment. At the same time, they stand as perhaps the biggest way industrialized in·dus·tri·al·ize v. in·dus·tri·al·ized, in·dus·tri·al·iz·ing, in·dus·tri·al·iz·es v.tr. 1. To develop industry in (a country or society, for example). 2. countries can decrease their dependence on imported oil. Meanwhile, rapidly developing countries such as China, India and Russia are becoming immense automotive markets whose need for natural resources will continue to change the political and economic landscape of the whole world for years to come. Cars are changing in one more critical way. Vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure communication technologies are just beginning to enter the market, and a tremendous industry-wide effort is underway to develop the necessary hardware and software. No longer will each vehicle traveling down the road be isolated from the others, not even from the road, for that matter. Information about congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. , accidents and potholes will reach cars early enough to plan an alternate route An official alternate route is a bannered highway that provides an alternate alignment for a highway. Originally, the term for these routes was "optional"; but in 1959, the designation became alternate. , thus saving time and fuel. A myriad of other uses for this technology abound and they will bring with them a significant challenge the industry will have to overcome to take full advantage of its promise. Like never before, automakers will have to cooperate intensively with their suppliers, with each other and with local and federal government bodies responsible for the management of the road system. The automotive industry's move to decrease its reliance on fossil fuels, of course, will also for close cooperation with the government. The need for the groundbreaking cooperation between industry participants and government can be interpreted as one more indicator of just how profound the changes currently shaping the automotive industry are. As NAIAS 2008 greets a new year, it also greets an industry that, through a dizzying greet s a new year, it also greets and industry that, through a dizzying pace of change, is transforming before our eyes. RELATED ARTICLE Communication chips are helping have the way for exciting new communications platforms in vehicles. Controller-are networking, or CAN, is a communications standard that can move information at 500 kilobytes per second A kilobyte per second (KB/s or KBps) is a unit of data transfer rate equal to:
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RELATED ARTICLE The auto industry uses world-class technology in its vehicles. About 8 percent of the component value of the average U.S.-produced automobile is comprised of electronic content representing a total of $12.4 billion in 2000 or about $970 per vehicle. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] David Coe is chairman of the Center for Automotive Research and Benard Sweekiis senior project manger, economics and business group at the Center for Automotive Research. |
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