The auto industry saw some big changes in 2017 - but electric cars and autonomous vehicles were just hype

Thomson Reuters

• Industry execs agree the car business is undergoing unprecedented change.
• But some of that change is more meaningful than others.
• Several much-discussed "disruptions" are more speculative than for-real.

Auto industry executives have been suffering fits of panic and excitement over big changes to the business. In 2017, their preoccupation with disruption came to a head, as Tesla surpassed Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in market cap and at times challenged General Motors.

It was a great year in many ways, but also a rough one.

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So how much of the disruption was meaningful - and how much of it was much ado about nothing?

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