Google Beats Detroit Just by Skipping CES

As the unsexy, low-margin business of manufacturing and selling cars becomes increasingly swept up in Silicon Valley's vision of disruptive self-driving vehicles and on-demand mobility, the annual Consumer Electronics Show has become the place to demonstrate that your car company is more than just another Rust Belt relic. From the big brands and their established suppliers to hungry new startups hoping to take on the industry, everyone who has anything to do with cars was in Las Vegas this week was showing off outlandish concepts and new buzzwords.

With one telling exception: Google, the firm most responsible for spooking automakers into embracing bold visions of the future, was a no-show on the automotive stage. And that made it the big winner.