Nowadays, you might mistake any new car on the market for what is effectively a smartphone with wheels. Massive touchscreens can be found inside nearly every new vehicle, from high luxury vehicles to the most economical models. Remember when cars had analog gauges and were affordable? We do too, and we miss them. But they are now relics of the past, and at this point, there is no looking back.
In the last decade, so many significant automotive innovations have played their part in the way we experience driving today. However, we have built a list that narrows it down to the top ten most significant updates. Most of these changes have been positive, but the ever-increasing cost of cars has come as a result of these innovations, and that premium is most often fronted by consumers. Curious to know what made the list? Join us as we break it down.
Smartphone Integration
The Age Of Infotainment
Once upon a time, if you had Bluetooth music streaming in your car, you were living in absolute luxury. Yet, by 2008, even the most affordable vehicles on the market offered Bluetooth music playback as standard. However, when Apple CarPlay (2014) and Android Auto (2015) debuted, these software integrations changed the game entirely.
With full smartphone integration, your car becomes a living, breathing extension of your phone, whereas before the car and phone were two separate entities. As most infotainment systems were mediocre at the time, Apple CarPlay or Android Auto integration became a sigh of relief. Most significantly, navigation capabilities saw a massive leap, as Apple and Android were light-years ahead of any in-house proprietary navigation system available. However, nowadays, smartphone integration as an industry standard is a fractured concept, as many automakers, like Tesla and Rivian, choose to stick to their proprietary software. Even traditional automotive brands like General Motors are eliminating integration, citing the fact that they can’t utilize your data when you are connected through your smartphone. Is this a genius move or a surefire way to alienate your customers? Only time will tell.
Digital Instrument Clusters
Screens Are Now Anywhere And Everywhere
Although digital instrument clusters have been around for decades, including the iconic display of the 1980s Nissan 300ZX Turbo, they have come a long way since then. Nowadays, if you have a digital cluster, that most likely means that it is a configurable screen that allows you to display any variety of relevant operational data while being directly integrated into the rest of the car’s infotainment system.
This matters more than ever nowadays, as driver-assistance systems and navigation can be displayed prominently in the driver’s eyeline, alongside other critical details such as speed and fuel level. Audi’s Virtual Cockpit set the standard for digital instrument clusters in 2015, prompting the widespread adoption of this technology following its release, as seen with BMW’s Curved Display in 2022. Nowadays, Virtual Cockpit comes standard on all Audi models, even if its size and appearance have changed significantly since then. You can understand the rapid pace of development in this technology as even the most frugal 2026 Nissan Sentra comes equipped with a massive digital display just like the one found in an expensive BMW or Audi.
Driver Assistance Systems
Safety And Convenience All In One
It is common knowledge that the majority of car accidents are caused by human error. Rarely is the vehicle itself the direct cause of an accident, yet despite this, cars have never been smarter and safer than they are today.
The majority of new cars today come with a myriad of driving assistance systems, from auto emergency braking to active cruise control. Features like active cruise control are lifesavers during stop-and-go commuting as well as on long road trips, and the positive impact of these features is undeniable (if you aren’t scrolling through social media while driving). Back in 2015, many of these safety and convenience features were only typically found in luxury cars, but now more than ever, these systems are being mandated by regulators. For example, by 2029, all new vehicles sold in the U.S. will be required to offer automatic emergency braking technology. Safe to say that automakers aren’t making cars safer because they want to, but rather, because they are being forced to. While we certainly appreciate cars being safer, it is a certain truth that these complex systems are a large contributor to the increasing cost of cars (and consumers are paying the cost).
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Connected Car Services
Your Phone Can Now Control Your Car
Connected car services are taking smartphone integration to a whole different level that simply didn’t exist in 2015. While emergency systems like OnStar have been around since the 1990s, having an app that can turn your car on and off was a distant fantasy at best back then.
Nowadays, connected car services have effectively changed the game for automakers, as now they can sell the service of connectivity, in addition to the purchase of the car itself. Common features found on these connectivity apps include remote start, lock and unlock features, climate control, live location data, and much more. While not all remote service apps require an additional paid subscription, this is becoming a more common industry-wide practice than ever before. For example, Hyundai’s BlueLink service can cost $10 to $30 a month, depending on the features you select and the model year of your car. Yet, even luxury brand shoppers are hesitant to pay up for in-car subscriptions, no matter how convenient or cool they may be. As nice as it is to turn on the A/C before you get to the car, is the experience truly worth a subscription service? Time will tell.
Over-The-Air Software Updates
Software Is Now More Important Than Hardware
Back in the day, if your car needed a software update or new programming, you’d have to take it to the dealer. Even then, the dealer probably wouldn’t even tell you about it unless it was something obvious or impactful on the driving experience.
That was until a company by the name of Tesla came along in 2012 and stirred the pot that traditional automakers had long avoided stirring. The California-based automaker revolutionized software updates by making them remotely available as soon as they were ready, just like the experience of updating an app on your phone. Since then, the majority of automakers have adopted OTA (over-the-air) software updates as the industry standard moving forward, and there is no turning back. The impact on consumers has been undeniable, as new cars are now expected to receive constant software support as part of the purchase price. Although mostly only EV models are the recipients of OTA firmware updates, the fact that it is even possible to achieve this through a wireless connection is an incredible advancement. OTA updates are providing additional longevity to new vehicles by keeping their software fresh and relevant, adding to the appeal of newer cars as a result.
Engine Downsizing
Turbocharging Runs Rampant
What once was a V-8 is now a twin-turbo V-6; what once was a V-6 is now a turbocharged inline-four. We are even amazed to say that what was once an inline-four is now a turbocharged inline-three, and engines have never been smaller and more efficient.
Emissions regulations and strict efficiency standards have ushered in our current era of engine downsizing, and this trend has significantly increased since 2015. Almost every competitive modern engine nowadays is either electrified, turbocharged, or a combination of both. Consequently, average fuel economy levels have skyrocketed, and the average engine has also never been more powerful than now. The only downside has been that downsizing means engines have to work harder to make up for that loss in power, which means more complex systems are at play to achieve the current standard expected of a modern combustion engine. We want the cake, and we want to eat it too. That means engines are more complex and more expensive to both maintain and repair than ever before, another factor contributing to the increased cost of new vehicles.
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Electrification
Hybrids Just Make Sense
Did hybrid vehicles suddenly just start popping out of the woodwork around 2015? No. However, it is clearer now than ever before that electrification is the future of automotive engineering, and whoever can perfect the technology now will have a chokehold on the market for decades to come.
Right now, nobody else is quite as invested in the hybridization of their entire vehicle line-up as Toyota. Although it was the first-generation Honda Insight that debuted as the first hybrid model available in the U.S. back in 1999, the Toyota Prius followed shortly after and has had a much larger impact as far as preaching the gospel of hybridization. Back then, hybrids were considered uncool. Now, if you don’t offer a competitive hybrid platform, you are essentially irrelevant. This transition was inevitable because hybrids, both for efficiency and performance, just make sense, and their popularity has flourished as a result. Nowadays, we have a plethora of mild-hybrid, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and full-electric vehicles to choose from, and this increase in competition has only made the average better. Despite their added complexity, the benefits of hybridization far outweigh the downsides, and there may be a day when every new car on the market has a hybrid system of some sort.
Modular Chassis Design
Simplifying The Foundation
Platform sharing, or the idea of building a foundation on which several different models can be built, is not something new in the automotive industry, per se. Yet, we did get to the point where things were getting way too complicated, and a return to simplicity in production and manufacturing was a much-needed change. That is where Volkswagen stepped in and introduced the MQB platform in 2012, and we thus entered the current era of modular chassis design.
The standardization and interchangeable nature of a modular chassis system seem logical, but it is only in recent years that automakers have really taken the approach to making this concept the current industry standard. In the case of the Volkswagen MQB platform, this architecture replaced three existing platforms and melded them into one, allowing for the construction of anything from a subcompact to a mid-sized sedan or larger. However, more modern modular platforms, like Toyota’s TNGA, have taken this a step further. Nowadays, only five TNGA platforms account for 80 percent or more of Toyota vehicles, whereas in the past the brand offered about 100 different platforms. Even though our cars are getting increasingly more complex by the minute, modular chassis design is one of the most cost-efficient and business-savvy trends in the industry, and one we think will be here to stick around for decades to come.
Adaptive Lighting Systems
Smart Illumination Will Keep The Road Clearer And Safer
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Flip on the headlights of your 1981 Honda Civic Si, and you will be lucky to see even 50 feet in front of you on a moonless night. When you compare that to what we have now, even the most basic Toyota Corolla has LED headlights that will downright sizzle the insides of your retinas with sheer blinding light.
The fact is that headlights have gotten exponentially brighter even in the last decade, but the majority haven’t gotten smarter. Adaptive headlight systems that preemptively turn the corner and actively avoid blinding oncoming traffic while keeping your illumination as clear as possible are still not an industry-wide standard and require expensive control modules and sensors that are only found in well-equipped luxury cars. Yet, we pray that this becomes standardized sooner rather than later, because headlights have never been more of a safety hazard than they are now due to how bright light output has gotten. Most modern LED headlights are amazing for the driver, but are a nightmare for the rest of traffic.
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Adaptive Suspension Systems
Road Comfort Is Peaking
Even now, adaptive suspension systems are still reserved for only the finest vehicles. This is considering that the technology is nothing new, and even General Motors had offered air suspension as standard equipment back in the late 1950s on the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham.
However, even now, the majority of automakers offer adaptive suspension of some kind, usually as a premium option. As variable drive modes have become increasingly popular across all types of vehicles, adaptive suspension systems have also become more standardized. This technology is still only found on more premium models or luxury vehicles, but its benefits are obvious. Being able to adjust any range of suspension damping from the touch of a button is still damn impressive, yet it is by no means an affordable technology. It is unlikely that adaptive suspension systems will ever become standard equipment industry-wide, but in the premium segment, details like these are what make or break the appeal of any given model.