The highest 3 automotive traits to anticipate at CES 2026

The New Yr is correct across the nook, which additionally means we’re already neck-deep in CES season. For 2026, the world’s largest client electronics present returns to Las Vegas and is predicted to lean closely into robots and “residing with AI” — a route automotive fans is probably not thrilled about after final yr’s vehicle-heavy highlight.

That stated, the most important automotive producers on the planet will nonetheless be there because the trade continues its full-speed pivot towards AI, very similar to everybody else. As with final yr, anticipate way more software program reveals than precise new automotive bulletins, which — relying on who you ask — is both encouraging progress or a significant letdown.

So, right here’s every little thing it is advisable to learn about automobiles heading into CES 2026.

Sony-Honda is again once more

At CES 2025, we coated the debut of the Sony–Honda three way partnership’s first EV, the AFEELA 1. Whereas we didn’t get to see it in movement, Sony-Honda Mobility Group did stroll us by way of a demo of the automotive’s infotainment system. For 2026, the corporate plans to return with what it’s calling a “pre-production” model of the AFEELA 1, alongside an all-new idea automobile.

What’s much less clear is what Sony-Honda really considers pre-production at this level. The model proven in 2025 already appeared pretty road-ready, a minimum of from a visible standpoint, making the excellence really feel extra semantic than substantive.

In line with the SHM Group, their EVs are anticipated to begin manufacturing someday in 2026 and can initially be out there solely in California.

Software program-defined automobiles take middle stage (once more)

If there’s one theme that can quietly dominate CES 2026, it’s the continued shift towards software-defined automobiles. This isn’t new, but it surely is turning into unavoidable. Automakers are much less serious about exhibiting off the automobiles themselves and extra centered on proving their automobiles can evolve after they go away the manufacturing unit.

Meaning working programs, over-the-air updates, and modular software program stacks will likely be in every single place. Corporations like P3 are utilizing CES to focus on Android Automotive — based mostly platforms that permit automakers roll out options, apps, and companies lengthy after a automobile ships. For shoppers, this might imply improved infotainment and enhanced options over time. For automakers, it’s about pace, flexibility, and, finally, new income streams.

The larger shift is towards “agentic AI.” For reference, these are AI programs that actively make selections on behalf of the consumer, slightly than simply responding to instructions.

At CES 2026, anticipate to see AI utilized for route planning, power administration, and driver help programs that adapt in real-time slightly than comply with mounted guidelines. On the floor, it is a significant try at innovation, but it surely raises some questions on privateness and the way a lot management drivers are prepared to relinquish.

Do not anticipate a lot spectacle

If CES 2025 was about huge guarantees, CES 2026 seems extra like a actuality examine. A number of analysts have famous that automakers are actually within the much less glamorous part of turning earlier bulletins into precise merchandise. That is simply how the state of the auto trade is correct now, particularly given the event of the EV trade in 2025.

Heading into CES 2026, the EV trade is in a noticeably extra sober place than it was even a yr in the past. After years of aggressive timelines and all-in commitments, automakers are recalibrating as demand has confirmed softer and extra uneven than anticipated. U.S. EV gross sales peaked in late 2025 forward of the expiration of federal incentives, then dropped sharply, forcing firms like GM and Ford to tug again billions in deliberate EV spending whereas refocusing on hybrids, vehicles, and SUVs that really transfer quantity.

Automakers are actually working in what trade analysts have known as an period of “EV realism,” the place electrification remains to be the long-term aim, however the path there may be slower, extra fragmented, and much much less ideological. Count on CES 2026 to mirror that shift.

That’s why the present could really feel quieter from a car-news perspective, and that’s not essentially a foul factor. CES has all the time been a supplier-driven occasion, and this yr will probably spotlight chips, sensors, robotics, and manufacturing tech that gained’t seize headlines.