In April 2010 RIM bought QNX Software Systems, a maker of operating systems for cars and medical devices.

WSJ: BlackBerry Maker's Long Slide

To determine the average amount consumers might pay to keep their new cars in operating condition, we used 2008 repair estimates calculated over a five-year period by Vincentric, an auto-industry data-analysis company.

FORBES

Even with dealers taking unneeded cars, the manufacturers are operating at around 65% of capacity when 80% is thought to be the breakeven point.

FORBES: Chinese Manufacturing Is Crashing

In America states have been scrambling to pass laws covering driverless cars, which have been operating in a legal grey area as the technology runs ahead of legislation.

ECONOMIST: Robot ethics

The innovation is happening swiftly, albeit subtly as cars build in hi-tech operating systems.

FORBES: The Year in Cars: What I Drove in 2012

One stellar company that builds this principle into its operating procedure is Pixar Animation Studios, known for such blockbusters as Cars, Toy Story, and Ratatouille.

FORBES: Two Cheers for "Bad Ideas"

For Toyota, by 2008 big cars were contributing JPY 2 trillion (USD 25 billion) of operating profits.

FORBES: Japan's Automakers Face New Challenges (2): Returning to Their Roots

Thinking about cars as a platform raises the prospect that someone could produce a sort of operating system for that platform and capture a huge share of the value, as Apple did with its iPod and iPhone and as Microsoft did with personal computers.

FORBES: Google's Trillion-Dollar Driverless Car -- Part 2: The Ripple Effects

Volkswagen sold 2.81 million cars in China last year, up from 25% a year earlier, and operating profit at its two Chinese joint ventures jumped 42% last year.

WSJ: Gearbox Problem Prompts Volkswagen to Recall 384,181 Vehicles Sold in China