The Race to the Car of the Future Wednesday, February 9, 2022

The Buzz 1: “My first customer was a lunatic. My second had a death wish.” (Carl “Karl” Friedrich Benz, whose 1885 Benz Patent Motorcar was the first practical automobile in series production) The Buzz 2: “I couldn't find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself.” [Ferdinand Porsche, founder of the Porsche AG, Volkswagen Beetle, Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK) The Buzz 3: “The car has become the carapace, the protective and aggressive shell, of urban and suburban man.” [Herbert Marshall McLuhan CC, Canadian philosopher) Today, the automotive industry is continually disrupted by myriad factors, mainly driven by consumers’ expectations and demands: * Passenger and commercial drivers and fleet owners are no longer waiting for next year’s “pretty new model”. Their wants and needs are forcing automotive companies to change how – and how fast – they can deliver innovations. * New mandates for industry players include embedding software into the vehicle. * The industry's raw materials will change with the shift to EV's, as building the new grid and EV cars place new demands on the steel industry. * Using data for actionable insights will also become a priority for automotive. Yes, we are eagerly awaiting the exciting new car of the future. Will George Jetson and Doc Emmett Brown say, “We told you so?” We’ll ask Tom Madonna, Mukund Rao, Praveen Ramamurthy and Patrick Maroney for their take on “The Race to the Car of the Future”. Thank you to today's sponsor: www.nordvpn.com/TechRev