CTA Mobility Executive Roundtable at CES 2026
- Mo Al-Bodour
- 16시간 전
- 4분 읽기
The executive lunch co-sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), SBD Automotive, and HERE Technologies offered a pulse check on the state of global mobility. Bringing together fresh consumer research and expert executive dialogue, the session revealed a substantial gap between investment priorities, user expectations, and long-term behavioral shifts.
Universal Needs Becoming More Universal
Insights from the SBD Automotive Annual Mobility Consumer Survey (late 2025) reinforced a foundational truth; mobility may be evolving technologically, but consumer priorities remain deeply human. Across global markets, reliability and timely arrival ranked as the top universal need. Safety, convenience, and comfort followed closely, underscoring that advanced features matter only insofar as they deliver predictable, stress-free journeys.
However, regional distinctions were striking. In parts of Europe, affordability emerged as a major concern, likely reflecting inflationary pressures and regulatory costs tied to electrification and urban policies. By contrast, in emerging markets, security outweighed cost considerations. This suggests that in rapidly urbanizing regions, physical safety and protection, both personal and digital are still core determinants of mobility choices. For industry players, this divergence signals that one-size-fits-all value propositions will increasingly fall short. Localization is no longer about language or regulation alone. It must address culturally embedded definitions of “trust” and “value” in an ever-globalizing environment where tendencies and trends tend to blur geographical barriers in many ways.
The Evolving Meaning of Car Ownership
The survey’s finding that “the same car has different jobs” highlights a broader socio-cultural shift. For some, vehicles are pragmatic tools, extensions of existing daily routines designed for convenience. For others, cars serve as symbols of independence, privacy and personal space. Particularly in dense urban environments or markets where public infrastructure is less predictable, the car represents a controlled environment.
Yet perhaps the most sobering insight was that the future of car ownership itself appears to be no longer guaranteed. Rising costs, regulatory complexity, congestion, and the overall stress of owning a vehicle are eroding the appeal of ownership. Even current owners are reconsidering long-term commitment. This has profound implications for OEMs and ecosystem players. Loyalty cannot be assumed. Innovation in business models must increasingly accommodate flexibility, whether through subscription services, usage-based models, or integrated multimodal offerings to address these concerns.
Generational Surprises
One of the more unexpected findings was the alignment between Gen Z and the Silent Generation (80+). Both cohorts expressed heightened sensitivity to security, with Gen Z uniquely identifying it as a primary concern. This contradicts the stereotype of younger consumers as purely tech-forward and risk-tolerant. Instead, Gen Z appears pragmatic and cautious, shaped perhaps by economic instability, digital privacy concerns and global uncertainty.
For industry leaders, this may signal a shift in how emerging generations evaluate innovation. Advanced features alone do not guarantee appeal, they must enhance safety and security. Transparency in data usage, cybersecurity safeguards and physical safety assurances may prove decisive in building trust. It is critical to track how this trend develops over the coming years as Gen Z matures into new phases of their lives.
Investment vs. Consumer Readiness
Perhaps the most provocative discussion point was the disconnect between capital investment and consumer demand for autonomous vehicles. Despite more than $120 billion of recorded investment in SAE Level 4 autonomous technology development, only 14% of surveyed consumers expressed strong willingness to ride in an autonomous vehicle. Notably, willingness showed little correlation with market maturity with consumers in emerging markets more willing to take an autonomous ride that their counterparts living with active autonomous vehicle programs, suggesting that technological readiness does not automatically translate to consumer acceptance.
This mismatch raises strategic questions. Is industry investment running ahead of consumer psychology? Are companies overestimating the speed at which trust can be built? Is the issue more related to education and customer training than the technology itself? Will it be a problem that solves itself with time? The roundtable discussions repeatedly returned to the idea that autonomy is as much a human adoption challenge as a technological one. Without clearer communication of benefits, particularly around safety and reliability, mass uptake may lag far behind deployment capability.
Executive Perspectives: Safety, Security, Sustainability, and Seamless Experiences
The executive roundtable, divided into four thematic groups, echoed and expanded upon these findings.
Safety discussions emphasized that innovation must demonstrably reduce real-world risk. Technology cannot merely add features; it must measurably improve outcomes. An interesting conclusion was that the definition of safety varies by industry, sector, and region.
Security conversations extended beyond physical safety to include cybersecurity and data protection, aligning closely with Gen Z concerns highlighted in the consumer survey.
Sustainability debates highlighted tensions between regulatory ambition and consumer affordability. In parallel, vehicle manufacturers must continue to make ongoing adjustments to electrification programs reconcile environmental targets with economic realities.
Seamless experiences emerged as the connective tissue: consumers expect mobility ecosystems that integrate navigation, payment, vehicle data, and multimodal options into frictionless journeys, and the industry as a whole is eager to meet these expectations.
The concluding panel reinforced a collective recognition, that mobility’s future will be shaped less by technological possibility and more by consumer trust and lived experience. Reliability, safety, affordability and security remain the anchors. As capital continues to flow into advanced technologies, industry success will hinge on aligning innovation roadmaps with the nuanced, and sometimes contradictory, priorities of global consumers being managed by a diverse set of carmakers, suppliers, policy makers, big tech, developers and countless other industry players.