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The upcoming rollout, which will deploy the technologies by March 31, 2016, is part of Denso's drive to boost sales of sensors, the crucial eyes and ears of tomorrow's safety systems.

Cars without these features will be hard-pressed to achieve the top five-star rating. And European adoption of more stringent rules is expected to force other markets, such as the United States and Japan, to raise the bar as well.

But it trails European rivals such as Robert Bosch GmBH and Continental AG in advanced safety sensors. Denso's bread-and-butter products are drivetrain components and air conditioners.

But deployment is rapidly moving downmarket because of stricter European Union safety rules taking effect in 2015. The Euro New Car Assessment Program, or Euro NCAP, rates vehicle safety and increasingly will test for crash avoidance technologies.

The components include systems using camera-based optical sensors, millimeter wave radar and laser radar.

That is because the regulations set a baseline for sensor performance that must be met by all carmakers. And the clear specifications make it easier to develop standardized sensors. Standardization, in turn, allows for higher volume and lower costs, meaning a wider array of customers can use the same part.

Tesla has been pushing to use cameras in lieu of side mirrors since at least 2012

The driving force behind the trend will be new government mandates for vehicle-to-vehicle communication technologies that improve safety and enable self-driving features.

The system senses if a collision is imminent, and if the driver doesn’t respond, it autonomously brakes the car at speeds up to 124 mph. It also can brake to avoid a stationary vehicle ahead and to prevent rear collisions.

The C300 all-wheel-drive goes on sale in a few weeks and will cost $41,325, including shipping.

The more powerful C400 4Matic starts at $49,515, including shipping, and also debuts later this month. It is a new model.

In the next two years, a C-class coupe, convertible and plug-in hybrid will be rolled out in the United States

But with nearly 900,000 more Sonata owners on the road since the outgoing model's debut, and a chance to build a broader, more sustainable following, "We have to be more careful," Zuchowski said.

But Hyundai says the car's suspension and steering have been redesigned for better ride and handling. The interior also is new, with greater use of soft-touch materials and more countermeasures against road noise. Also, high-tech features and advanced safety equipment -- plus a starting price that Zuchowski says won't stray far from the outgoing model's sticker of just over $22,000, with shipping -- will help the Sonata retain the value image that has been a key purchase reason for the sedan, Hyundai says.

With 6.6 million Camrys on the road, Toyota understands well the delicate balance Hyundai is seeking. The Camry's large, loyal following has allowed it -- compelled it -- to stick with safe, modest designs and driving characteristics, generation after generation.

But when the current generation was launched in late 2011, mostly to yawns from auto critics, the sportier SE model became the best- selling trim package. Toyota took the hint.

Every piece of sheet metal except the roof has been changed, as have more than 2,000 part numbers. For some automakers, that constitutes a redesign.

Both products will land in a mid-sized market that has been roiled by intense competition, not only within the segment but also from fast-growing crossovers. At 2.6 million units in 2013, sales in the segment grew just 1 percent from the previous year,

No one feels this more than Toyota, which is fighting to continue the Camry's 12-year streak as America's best-selling car against a strong challenge from the Nissan Altima. Toyota has spent more on Camry incentives, yet had a lower mean transaction price, than its top four competitors -- the Altima, Honda Accord, Ford Fusion and the Sonata -- every month since November 2012, according to TrueCar.

Carter hopes the investment in the new-look Camry will allow Toyota to dial back on incentive spending. "One way to lower incentives is to increase demand, and that's what this car is about," Carter said. But if competitors should raise their incentives, Toyota won't sit still. Said Carter: "This is a competitive market. And we're going to compete."

"With a greater concentration of automotive research, development, talent, supply chain and manufacturing infrastructure than anywhere else in the world, Michigan is the place that should be America's mobility center of excellence."

The market for automotive chips is projected to grow 6.1 percent to $27.9 billion this year, according to IHS Corp. Within that business, sales of chips for automated driver-assistance systems, or ADAS, will increase an average of 13 percent a year through 2020, making it the fastest-growing area.

Intel, Qualcomm and NVIDIA, which make some of the fastest processors available. All three say they’ve got products in the market or coming that meet the most stringent automotive requirements.

NVIDIA said its processors are now powerful enough that they can be partitioned -- devoting part to functions that must work no matter what, and others to information and entertainment, where hiccups are less dangerous.

Qualcomm

has won the majority of orders to add the latest wireless modems into cars, and expects that by 2017 as many as 60 percent of cars will have cellular connections.

It all comes from the cloud,” Singh said. “Otherwise you have to put terabytes of data into the car’s trunk.”

Top-of-the line Audi models use more than 6,000 semiconductors.

“Make no mistake -- my objective is to drive this into volume, not just luxury German vehicles,” said Elliot Garbus, Intel’s vice president of automotive. “We need to drive it into entry-level vehicles.”

Intel is aiming to win more orders by offering carmakers whole systems -- software and computers built on its chips -- that it says can cut the time and cost it takes to build features into cars. New functions such as tracking eye movement to monitor a driver’s attention will require faster processing, he said.

Qualcomm

is working on chipsets that provide multiple functions for cars, including cellular connections, and expects that to be the basis for an expansion of its revenue in the industry

"This skips a whole generation of S class -- it went into the future. It is 70 percent autonomous driving."

Available first on the S-class sedan as a $2,800 option, Intelligent Drive also is offered on the re-engineered 2014 E-class lineup. Much of the technology will trickle down to the redesigned 2015 C-class sedan that goes on sale in the fall. Some features are even available on the smaller B-class Electric Drive that went on sale last month.

The take rate on Intelligent Drive for the S-class sedan is 50 percent. It falls to 15 percent for the E class.

For Mercedes, having this edge is a competitive weapon in the luxury segment, where quality, gadgets and horsepower are no longer significant differentiators.

Hyundai with its new Genesis is the closest but the competition is probably three years behind