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2015 will be the biggest year ever for cars at CES

Like the SEMA Show, major automakers are paying increasing attention to the CES, with 2015 expected to be one of the most auto focused yet. Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, General Motors, Hyundai, Mazda, Audi, BMW and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will all be in attendance when CES 2015 kicks off next week, taking up a record-breaking 165,000 square feet of space at the Las Vegas Convention Center. "We've come a long way from a single car on a carpet," Ford's Alan Hall told Bloomberg. Unlike SEMA, or a more traditional auto show, like the upcoming festivities in Detroit, CES doesn't necessarily focus on entire cars or the way they perform, but on the way our technology will interact with vehicles, and in how those vehicles will deliver information to drivers. "CES has become a major launch point for a lot of the big automakers," IHS tech analyst Mark Boyadjis told Bloomberg. "CES is a way for them to get on a global stage for technology." As for what kind of wares automakers will trot out in Las Vegas, we already know that BMW will show off an autonomous i3 electric car that can navigate its way through a multistory car park and can be hailed via a smartwatch app. According to Bloomberg, Hyundai will show off its own smartwatch app for the Genesis sedan, while Audi and Mercedes-Benz will show off autonomous vehicles next week. Automakers won't be the only companies looking to capitalize on CES. Tech firms, like chipmaker Nvidia, are becoming increasingly involved in the automotive game and will be in town showing their wares off to OEMs. "Two years ago, our booth would have been filled with PCs and people playing video games," Danny Shapiro, Nvidia's senior director for automotive business, told Bloomberg. "This year we made a strategic decision to shift the focus of the booth on automotive and de-prioritize some of the other things." Needless to say, you can expect to see a lot of news out of Las Vegas come next week. Stay tuned. News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Julie Jacobson / AP CES Audi BMW Chrysler Fiat Ford GM Hyundai Mazda Toyota Volkswagen Technology CES 2015

Former Ford CEO Alan Mulally lands on Google board

Former Ford CEO Alan Mulally often referred to the Blue Oval as a technology company when he led the automaker. Now he'll be offering guidance to a different kind of technology firm: Google.
Mulally was appointed to Google's board of directors July 9, and late Tuesday, it was announced that he will serve on the company's audit committee. The veteran executive led Ford from September 2006 until he retired in June, succeeded by Mark Fields.
While Mulally will act as a board member - rather than in a managerial role - his presence adds credibility to Google's recently announced plans to produce an autonomous car. The ambitious program calls for 100 prototypes to begin testing later this summer. Production of the car is rumored to be in collaboration with a Detroit area performance company, Roush.

GM's Reuss predicts 2016 Chevy Camaro will outperform Ford Mustang in every way

We aren't going to be seeing the next-generation Chevrolet Camaro until next month. But even though we know when we're going to see the new muscle car, it's totally unclear whether Chevy will dole out technical details. That means we can't answer the latest version of the age-old question: Camaro or Ford Mustang? Not surprisingly, General Motors North America President Mark Reuss has already stated his position, saying he was "very confident" that the sixth-generation Camaro will be faster, more agile and more efficient than the Ford. Reuss made his comments after saying he drove the new Camaro back-to-back with the Mustang the week prior. Reuss' statement came in a conversation with Fox News about the 2016 Camaro where he elaborated on the car's weight shedding and how it fit into GM's strategy on other new models. "There are some really cool things in the Camaro, that are quite different than the Malibu, [and] CT6," Reuss told Fox. As we reported previously, the Camaro will shed some 200 pounds by switching to aluminum and other lightweight composites for some of its components. With May 16 just over a month away, here's hoping Reuss decides to loose some other details on the next Camaro ahead of its debut. Related Video: