No German car manufacturers on the big stages of the world’s largest electronics trade fair in Las Vegas? Panic! Not necessary, says our mobility author Don Dahlmann
If you wander through the halls of the world’s largest electronics trade fair, the CES in Las Vegas, you could come to a quick conclusion: Germany’s auto industry hardly plays a role there anymore. No big premieres, no elaborately staged brand worlds, no demonstrative “We’ll show you the mobility of tomorrow”. While US tech companies and Asian providers occupy the stages, German manufacturers appear conspicuously absent. In the past, that would have been a warning sign. But it’s worth a second look.
The auto industry is absent
Because CES 2026 is less about products than about a shift in power. Mobility is no longer discussed there as a car, but as a system. AI platforms, sensors, map and data infrastructure, validation or software stacks. This year, CES is a meeting point for the invisible levels behind mobility. Because in 2026 it’s all about scaling the technologies developed in recent years so that you can finally make money with them.
This is exactly where the misunderstanding about Germany’s role begins. The absence of German car manufacturers on the big stages does not mean that Germany is technologically behind. It primarily shows how important German medium-sized businesses are. Especially at an event that celebrates software ecosystems and AI demonstrators. It is therefore only logical that Siemens and Bosch are there, but VW and Mercedes are missing.
Kings of scale
Because the actual transformation takes place beneath the surface. Autonomous systems are not created as a brand performance, but rather as an interplay of sensors, software, maps, data processing and security. This is exactly where the classic strengths of German companies lie: system integration, reliability, industrial scaling. It’s not spectacular, but it’s essential worldwide.
That’s why you won’t find German companies in Las Vegas in the halls with the spectacular large stages, but rather at small stands. This may not look spectacular, but it is efficient. You are here to offer solutions to business customers, not for a big show. The revolution, which is being driven by startups from Germany and Europe, often takes place in Las Vegas where hardly anyone is looking.
German medium-sized companies have always been strong when it comes to delivering highly specialized solutions for complex industrial systems. Not the big picture, but the crucial part of it. This logic will continue in the mobility of the future. The question of how to help municipalities integrate new technologies into old IT systems may seem boring, but it is crucial to ensuring that the new technology can be used at all.
Without platforms, no profits
One example is the startup Pulsetrain, which does not build battery cells or show vehicles, but rather develops high-precision battery and energy management. Invisible to end customers, but central to efficiency, service life and safety – exactly the factors that determine industrial scaling.
The German map provider HERE acts similarly. While others talk about autonomous vehicles, the company is working on the infrastructure without which autonomy doesn’t work: high-precision maps, real-time data and, above all, platform collaborations. The partnerships announced at CES are not a show element, but rather an expression of a business model that relies on integration. Maps, data and platform capability are now more important than the visible product.
This pattern is also evident in startups. The German mobility startup scene rarely produces big visions of a radical new transport system. Instead, solutions for battery management, simulation, data analysis or industrial integration are emerging. Less moonshot, more tools. This is harder to explain internationally, but it is extremely popular. German startups are building the invisible platforms that ensure that the future of mobility gets off the ground.
Today, mobility is not a matter for a company alone, but rather for infrastructure. It is not decided by a single product, but by dependencies in complex systems. Those who build these systems are rarely at the front of the stage. But this year’s CES also showed that the German innovation engine is currently revving up and it is occupying niches that are crucial for the future.
