In an appearance at the International Consumer Electronics Show currently underway in Las Vegas, Rick Wagoner, CEO of General Motors discussed the increasingly close relationship between the automotive and electronics industries.

Discussing systems currently available to drivers like accident avoidance and outline technologies to come, included communications vehicle-to-vehicle, Wagoner pointed to what he called a "convergence" of the two fields that is transforming both.

As the first CEO of an automotive firm to deliver a CES keynote in the 41-year history of the show, Wagoner's presence made apparent the importance of up-to-date technology in the cars drivers are demanding.

"The auto and electronics industries have traveled similar paths for a long time, sometime arm in arm," Wagoner said. "If the automobile were invented today, I'm pretty sure it would be here at CES."

Discussing GM's popular OnStar service, soon to be in its eighth generation, Wagoner said the evolution of the system taught GM valuable lessons about the need for quicker cycles of engineering and development like those that characterize the electronics world.

One of the most revolutionary developments in automotive technology could be vehicle-to-vehicle communications or V2V, which would allow cars to interact for the prevention of collisions, even taking over and slowing down in the presence of dangers to which the driver is not aware.

GM also used CES to unveil a Cadillac concept, the Provoq, a fuel-cell version of the venerable brand employing the E-flex architecture underlying the Chevrolet Volt.