Consumer electronics show now crucial to automakers

As temperatures dipped below freezing in Detroit, auto industry executives and tech leaders packed bags for their annual trek to the Las Vegas desert and what’s considered the greatest trade show on Earth.

“If you don’t know what’s going on, you’re toast,” said Gary Shapiro, chief executive officer of the Consumer Technology Association, who commutes from his home in Birmingham, to work at the organization’s Washington, D.C., office.