WORLD CAR AWARDS - THE ROAD AHEAD - JANUARY 2015 ISSUE

January 22, 2015 by World Car Awards

Happy New Year!

As you read this, World Car Awards (WCA) jurors will be in the process of completing their evaluation of this year's contenders, and preparing to vote in our first round of ballots.

Now to this month's newsletter, which will focus on the autonomous driving advances recently unveiled at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

New models and concepts like the Ford GT, Honda NSX, Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupé, Infiniti Q60, Lexus GS-F concept, Shelby Mustang GT350R, Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Cross Coupé GTE might have monopolized media coverage coming out of the NAIAS this year, but like it or loathe it, the topic on everyone's lips and all carmakers' future strategies is autonomous driving.

No one can ignore the ambitious plans that Google has for autonomous driving. But as the new inexperienced kid on the car-making block, Google has no choice but to collaborate with major automakers like General Motors, who expressed interest in advancing Google's strategy recently at the Detroit show. https://gallery.mailchimp.com/0ce7a67ca329493212f8c6ed8/images/50c0b704-d856-4a89-b8ab-c9e3c6d0d1e8.png

In fact, self-driving cars took a huge step closer to reality in January. That's the impact of a half-dozen automakers announcing plans at CES 2015 for autonomous driving vehicles that will be on the road between 2017 and 2020. To illustrate how close we've come, Audi 'drove' a car 550 miles from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas with journalists sitting behind the wheel, hands-off.

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Other manufacturers that have been showing off their self-driving abilities include Mercedes-Benz, with its swoopy F015 Luxury in Motion, as well as the self-parking BMW i3 EV. Last year, Volvo revealed its magnetic roads technology and the Ford Fusion proved that it could see around the truck ahead of you.

World Car Awards is more than just an awards program. It is a resource for the industry with a focus on excellence and innovation on a global scale. Our role is not just to reward current achievement but to provide an insight into the future, via trend studies and related initiatives and to foster innovation for that future.

In this issue of 'The Road Ahead' - with the latest updates on autonomous driving - World Car vice-chair Jens Meiners reports from Consumer Electronics Show 2015, while steering committee director Tamara Warren reveals trends from the just completed North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Peter Lyon is a World Car Awards Juror and Chairman