(NYTIMES) - A product manager at Mercedes once told me that he expected to see more changes in cars and the car business in the next 20 years than we've seen in the past 75. That was 6 1/2 years ago, and so far, his prediction has been spot on; I struggle to think of a consumer business now undergoing a more total transformation than what's happening in cars.

The first revolution is electrification. Encouraged by environmental regulations and accelerated by competition from Mr Elon Musk's electric car juggernaut, Tesla, much of the industry plans to abandon its defining technology, the petrol-powered engine, in favour of electric motors and batteries.