technology

At the end of 2017, Automotive News wrote an article about its predictions for the automotive industry in 2018. We thought it would be fun to see how close they got with these predictions, so let’s take a look to see how they played out.

Distracted driving is a huge problem today. With cell phones and screens, it’s no surprise that one in four car accidents are caused by distracted drivers. It claimed 3450 live in 2016! How are carmakers responding to this epidemic? With more technology!

Hands-free calling and voice commands were the beginning, but now head-up displays (HUD) are a new solution. HUD is a transparent display that shows up in your line of vision while driving. No need to look at a screen or your dash, keeping your attention on the road.

Whether autonomous vehicles (AVs) are a good thing or bad won't be decided until public has the product. But their technology is already blowing like a Nor'easter into the dealer community, promising a blizzard of legal issues that may affect the nature of the OEM franchise. I'm concerned that the next great disruptor - the autonomous vehicle - may "jump the franchise," and decimate the distribution system that has served car buyers squarely for more th