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Like no other time in the past 100 years, the global auto industry is at a turning point. How do companies that have been making traditional cars for decades prepare for a future when vehicles are powered by something other than petrol, drive themselves, and are shared rather than individually owned? How will car companies make money in such a world? And will the future of the auto industry be in Silicon Valley, or will it be here in Detroit - where hometown icon Ford has given pride of place at the annual Detroit Auto Show to this car, which delivers pizzas without human help?
The race is on to be the first to make the cars of the future. That's why General Motors recently rushed out an announcement of a new self-driving car that has no steering wheel or brake pedals, the first production-ready autonomous car from any established automaker. But it's a long time until Detroit will start making money from self-driving pizza cars. In the meantime, US carmakers have to rely on selling more profitable versions of what they already sell - the pick-up trucks, sports utility vehicles, and even sedans on the floor at this auto show.
A century ago, there were hundreds of car companies battling for a place in the newborn US auto industry. Most of them failed. Today is a bit like that. There are scores of companies fighting for a place in the auto industry of the future. Only time will tell how many of them will be around in 100 years.
--Patty Waldmeir, Financial Times, Detroit.