Editor's note: The Chicago auto show took place in February 2020. An earlier version of this story misstated the status of the show just prior to the pandemic.
Nothing could be crazier than 2020, we all innocently thought as Kia towed the big "2021" numerals into an empty Times Square.
Back then, chips were just tasty but unhealthy snacks. Cars and trucks lost value when they left the dealership lot. Nobody could recite the Greek alphabet. Elon Musk was only the world's third-richest person.
In the decades that passed this year, Tesla became a trillion-dollar company. Public dealership groups bought up stores like early-pandemic toilet paper. We kind of got used to saying "Stellantis."
And then there's the global microchip shortage, which the Automotive News staff chose as the top story of 2021 in a landslide. Remember when dealerships used to have more than six new cars on the acres of asphalt surrounding their showroom? Remember when car …