Only certainty is change CAR official says EV future brighter than autonomous

摘要

This may not be the year we expected,but 2020 is shaping up to be a landmark one.It officially ended an era,closing a decade of exceptional growth for the North American automotive industry,both in terms of vehicle sales and investment in manufacturing.It also marks the start of a new era,one in which electric vehicles finally got some traction,even as the COVTD-19 pandemic shook the industry at its core."(We are)right in the midst of this formative stage-and it's really exciting because we don't know which technologies are going to come out on top,"Bernard Swiecki,director of the Automotive Communities Partnership at the Center for Automotive Research,said during a plenary presentation that closed out this year's International Tire Exhibition & Conference.One thing,though,is certain:Change is ahead.And that change is going to start with vehicle sales.Swiekci said the hit absorbed by the auto industry this year is dynamically illustrated in the seasonally adjusted annual rate,which plummeted as COVTD-19 forced the closure of production and retail locations globally.