Let's all take one of these for a spin. (Photo: flickr.com/dok1)

It can't be fun running a car company. A century ago automobiles were the hottest thing since the railroad, but nowadays you're considered a hopeless dinosaur loser--unless you're Elon Musk, in which case you get to blunder around starting beef with the New York Times.

Maybe that explains why Ford, your granddad's go-to pickup truck brand since 1948, is launching a car-sharing program. PC Mag reports that the company is launching Ford2Go, which'll allow drivers to rent cars from dealerships via an online booking system. It'll launch in Germany in late 2013.

Sometimes that test-drive with the salesman in the passenger seat just isn't enough to make a decision, you know?

According to PC Mag:

"Ford understands that for some of our customers, car sharing is an attractive option," Ford of Germany chairman Bernhard Mattes said in a statement. "As a company, we are committed to a collaborative and integrated approach to future mobility, and the Ford2Go service is another significant step in exploring exactly how that future could look."

Of course, Ford is far from the only car company trying to import some mojo from Startupland in the age of connected devices. Besides running its own New York City-based VC firm, Ford's sister company BMW already offers a similar program in San Francisco, with luxury electric cars. General Motors allows OnStar subscribers to rent out their cars via RelayRides. Don't even get us started on the advent of automobile-focused apps. Kids today and their Spotify playlists.

You know what this means, right? New car smell forever.

(Lexus.)

Is there anyone not working on developing autonomous cars?

Google, of course, has been the high-profile leader in the field, not just developing the vehicles, but shelling out big lobbying dollars to make self-driving cars street legal in three states. But the search giant isn't alone. Volvo tested self-driving cars in Spain last year, and Ford predicts autonomous vehicles to arrive by 2017.

Now, two more car makers are joining the fray. According to The Wall Street Journal, Toyota and Audi will demo self-driving cars at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week:

An Audi official also said the luxury-car company will be demonstrating autonomous vehicle capabilities at the Las Vegas show, including a feature that allows a car to find a parking space and park itself without a driver behind the wheel.

Toyota's prototype vehicle is a Lexus LS 600h fitted with radar and camera equipment that can detect other vehicles, road lane lines and traffic signals, giving the vehicle the ability to navigate streets without a driver.

We're particularly excited for the Audi feature, which should free up our hands for making lewd, gloating gestures when we our self-driven car beats out some poor sap who still drives himself for a parking spot.