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LAS VEGAS (dpa-AFX) - BMW is holding out the prospect of a talking car, while electronics giant Sony is preparing its attack on the top dogs with a new brand name: The transformation of the automotive industry is driving competition in new directions. Digitization is turning the car into a computer on wheels - and the focus on artificial intelligence and digital services instead of horsepower is defining the future.

BMW offered a lavish show at the opening of the technology trade fair CES in Las Vegas on Thursday night: a short film with Arnold Schwarzenegger and David Hasselhoff, the "Terminator" actor and the legendary Hollywood cars Herbie and KITT live on stage. Then there was the demonstration of how a car can change color at will. A year ago in Las Vegas, BMW already showed a car covered with e-ink cells, but it could only change between white and a somewhat grayish black.

However, the important innovations in the electric sedan "BMW i Vision Dee" are in the interior. In addition to the talking software, which is also supposed to show emotions, the absence of the usual screens is noticeable in the cockpit. Instead, the entire windshield is to become a wide-screen display. The speedometer, navigation system and all other information are displayed on the windshield via a head-up display. And drivers can choose whether only some of the information is displayed - or whether entire digital worlds are to be mixed with the real environment.

The technology will come in the model generation BMW calls "New Class" starting in 2025, announced Group CEO Oliver Zipse. "It's more than a vision," he assured. The interior of the vehicle appears spartan: There are no door handles, dashboard, temperature controls, switches, buttons. The central control element is a sensor system on the surface that is the dashboard in today's cars. By voice or hand gesture, the driver decides what information he wants to see on the windshield. When the car is stationary, he can use dimmable windows to block out reality.

The show with movie and TV cars also had deeper meanings: The VW Beetle Herbie and Hasselhoff's intelligent sports car Kitt from the series "Knight Rider" stand for machines with feelings. Schwarzenegger, in turn, not only recently appeared prominently as the god Zeus in a BMW commercial, but also embodied a robot in the form of the "Terminator." The car as a "companion" thanks to intelligent software is ultimately the vision of the future that Zipse is trying to sell in Las Vegas.

For years, there has been concern in the automotive industry that tech giants like Apple and Google, with their supremacy in smartphone platforms, could also take over the key position in vehicles over time. Specifically, some manufacturers see Apple's Carplay and Google's Android Auto, which bring familiar smartphone operation from the cell phone into the cockpit, as a potential Trojan horse for the online giants. This is because it is becoming apparent that large portions of future business will be brought in via digital services instead of car sales. It's no coincidence that BMW experimented with automatic dimming as a paid subscription.

Zipse was defiant in the face of the new rivalries. It's not about who has the bigger screens and the most computing power, or who writes the most software codes. What counts is how customers experience the car and how it responds to them personally. A side effect of BMW's cockpit without displays would also be that the digital giants would not get their own interface.

There was much less pomp at Sony than at BMW shortly before. Group CEO Kenichiro Yoshida quite matter-of-factly let a prototype roll out - for the third time in Las Vegas. Sony is now working on it in a joint venture with carmaker Honda. And the two partners left no doubt that they mean business. So in the run-up to the market launch set for 2026, there's a brand name of its own: Afeela.

Sony wants Afeela to play to its strengths in artificial intelligence, entertainment and camera sensors, among other things, said Sony Honda Mobility chief Yasuhide Mizuno. The new vehicle borrows from the design of Sony's two previous prototypes, but its rear end, for example, is a bit more reminiscent of a Porsche than before. The car is to have 45 cameras and other sensors, among other things for automated driving functions. One unusual detail is a display between the front headlights that can show information for people in front of the car.

Unlike the BMW concept, the dashboard will be completely filled with screens. Sony, which is in the video game business with Playstation and also has a music company and Hollywood studio, wants to provide in-car entertainment./so/hbr/DP/ngu