I am not anticipating enormous automotive information at CES 2026, however that is precisely what it's best to need

[ad_1] A brand new yr is true across the nook, and meaning the countdown to CES 2026 has begun. CES is crucial time of the yr for tech information — and that features automotive tech. As automakers have sought to look extra like tech corporations and combine extra software-based options into their autos, CES has rivalled auto reveals as a venue for giant bulletins.

We’re anticipating that to proceed this yr, however with an emphasis on commercialization alongside the flashy bulletins. Which means updates on getting new EVs into manufacturing, and the additional growth of buzzword-generating tech like robotics and autonomous driving. The important thing phrase right here although is “growth,” as corporations are actually working on the less-exciting activity of turning their headline-generating bulletins from earlier years into actual merchandise.

Sony Honda Mobility

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This three way partnership between electronics large Sony and automaker Honda has confirmed that it'll present a “pre-production” model of its Afeela 1 EV and “an all-new idea mannequin.” At CES 2025, Sony Honda Mobility already confirmed a model of the Afeela 1 that was shut sufficient to production-spec to supply demos of its infotainment system. The brand new automotive model additionally introduced pricing and started accepting reservations for the sedan, which is slated to begin gross sales in California someday in 2026.

It’s unclear what can be completely different in comparison with the model of the Afeela 1 (pictured right here) proven at CES 2025. That automotive’s exterior already regarded production-ready, with built-in sensors to assist driver-assist programs, and not one of the normal concept-car tells like lacking mirrors and outsized wheels. Sony Honda Mobility representatives additionally indicated that the inside format, centered on a door-to-door display, was not a tough draft.

As for the brand new idea automotive, it may preview a second manufacturing mannequin. Earlier than it teamed up with Honda, Sony confirmed two idea variations of its personal EV — the Imaginative and prescient S sedan and Imaginative and prescient S-02 SUV. Maybe Sony Honda Mobility is planning to maneuver forward with the latter. However with Honda, which is supplying the underlying platform and really constructing the vehicles, throttling again its EV plans, it may be finest to concentrate on efficiently launching the Afeela 1 earlier than transferring on to a second EV.

BMW

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BMW is on the listing of exhibitors for CES 2026, however at press time hadn’t introduced what it could be exhibiting. The Bavarian automaker simply had an enormous yr, beginning with the reveal of its Panoramic Imaginative and prescient show at CES 2025 and culminating within the reveal of the iX3 electrical SUV on the 2025 IAA Mobility present. The iX3 is the primary of BMW’s next-generation “Neue Klasse” EVs. The title, which appropriately sufficient is German for “new class,” heralds a devoted EV structure and element set. It’s an enormous change from BMW’s present technique of basing EVs on internal-combustion architectures.

The plan is for the Neue Klasse to comprise a household of fashions, and CES is nearly as good a venue as any for unveiling the follow-up to the iX3. BMW briefly confirmed a camouflaged electrical sedan, reviving the i3 title beforehand used for a unusual electrical hatchback, on the iX3 world reveal. Beneath the camouflage, count on a production-ready model of the Imaginative and prescient Neue Klasse idea BMW first confirmed in 2023. We may see the brand new i3 in uncovered type at CES.

Hyundai

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Hyundai’s CES presence will reportedly heart not on vehicles, however on the robots that assist construct them. Korean Automobile Weblog reported in August that CES will mark the general public debut of the Atlas, a humanoid robotic developed by Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics. If it proves commercially viable, Hyundai says Atlas can work collaboratively with people at factories and different industrial settings. For now, it additionally offers Hyundai a solution to money in on the present curiosity in humanoid robots generated by Tesla.

Robots have labored in automotive factories for many years, however in stationary type doing easy and repetitive duties with out human cooperation. Boston Dynamics is slowly altering that with its well-known Spot robots, that are performing high quality checks at Hyundai’s “Metaplant” in Georgia, and Stretch, which help warehouse employees. The automaker wants to search out extra of those use circumstances to justify its funding and Boston Dynamics. So Hyundai’s CES 2026 presentation may give Atlas a extra particular job title than “cool-looking robotic.”

What else to count on

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CES is the Client Electronics Present, not the Client Auto Present. Extra consumer-facing information has come out of the present in recent times, nevertheless it’s all the time been a much smaller quantity than on the electronics facet, the place CES represents one of many few alternatives for corporations to make an enormous splash. Automakers have standalone reveals and, to a lesser extent, auto reveals to try this as effectively.

The anticipated information listed right here can be simply the tip of the iceberg. For each automaker at CES, there are 5 suppliers seeking to promote chips, sensors, and different elements that can go into future vehicles. However these suppliers are principally seeking to get the eye of their automaker prospects, not most of the people. There may even be autonomous-driving tech corporations like Waymo and Zoox that will not have actual information, however nonetheless have to remind the general public and buyers that they exist and are persevering with to develop their tech.

This may be a yr the place the fact of CES as a commerce present for offers between automakers and suppliers catches up with its notion as a spot for consumer-relevant automotive information. If that occurs, it is going to be as a result of automakers tech corporations have to focus extra on bringing the issues they’ve beforehand introduced to fruition earlier than promising extra. As a result of merely speaking in regards to the future received’t make it occur.