DETROIT: Tesla Inc and Wall Street made 2020 the year that the US auto industry decided to go electric.
Evidence is growing that more investors have concluded the century-long dominance of internal combustion engines - “ICE” in industry slang - is headed towards a close within a decade. The best-selling vehicles in the United States remain large, petroleum-burning pickup trucks. Demand for these vehicles powered a recovery for Detroit automakers after the pandemic forced factories to shut down in the spring.
Across the industry, century-old manufacturers such as Daimler AG are scrambling to hire programmers and artificial intelligence experts. But the shock delivered by the coronavirus pandemic gave manufacturers much less money and time to adapt.