Last week, DVN Interior’s Philippe Aumont and I visited CES in Las Vegas. The huge Las Vegas Convention Center is growing, and many construction areas hindered the already-slow car and foot traffic. But even so, CES is a great first event of the year. You see the latest high-tech products of all kinds, from genius to silly ones. I don’t know in which of these categories falls the “e-touring ski” with motorized traction belts underneath as a help for climbing. Will it be successful like the e-mountain bikes?
The best open booths of the international vehicle lighting industry (plus some additional rooms for showcases not for all eyes) were shown by OP Mobility, Koito, OLEDworks, LG Innotek, and Elmos. Inova and Tactotek presented their innovations in the Venetian Expo. Hyundai-Mobis, Zeiss, and Valeo opened their doors by invitation only.
Only a few car makers were present this year. BMW, Hyundai, Honda, Scout Motors (a VW brand), Aveela (a Sony & Honda brand), and Zeekr (a Geely brand). Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda gave a press conference, despite Toyota having no booth. No view to the future by Audi and Mercedes, no presentation of innovations by American, European, or Asian automakers except those few. The best car booth was clearly the big open space of BMW, where they showed a Neue Klasse sedan and SUV and, in a real Las Vegas kind of show, the UX/UI of the Neue Klasse which will be rolled out to all BMWs.
The biggest Keynotes of the 2025 CES were given by Nvidia in the huge Michelob Stadium, and by Delta Airlines—the first Keynote ever in the fantastic Sphere. The dominant role of CES for the auto industry in the decade before Covid, when all CEOs and CTOs of the automotive world were present and giving keynote speeches, seems to be history. CES has changed tack.