Posted on 06/08/2016 2:28:43 AM PDT by equaviator
GM CEO discusses autonomous strategy, corporate profits before meeting.
General Motors favors a regulatory approach requiring autonomous vehicles to be equipped with steering wheels and brake pedals.
Mary Barra, GM chairman and chief executive, told reporters before the automakers annual shareholders meeting that the company prefers regulations that mandate automated, self-driving vehicles to have steering wheels and brake pedals.
The company has made sizeable investments in future technology, including the $1 billion acquisition of Cruise, a start-up company based on San Francisco focused on the development of autonomous vehicles, she said.
We do think we have a leadership position in autonomous, Barra said. It is very important we demonstrate safety. We think having the steering wheel and pedals in the cars is a way to demonstrate safety. Despite a slowdown in the pace of new vehicle sales this spring, General Motors top executive said Tuesday she expects vehicle sales at or near record levels for the full year.
Barra presided over the company's 2016 annual meeting, which was held at GM headquarters.
Barra said 2015 was a strong year for GM on many fronts, including record earnings and record global sales. We have continued this strong record in 2016, said Barra, noting the company produced record profits and boosted its quarterly dividend.
We continue to be focused on producing sustained long- term growth, she said. Our goal is earning customers for life.
Barra said GMs overall strategy of concentrating on retail customers and cutting down on its profitable fleet sales has already produced strong profits.
We still expect sales to remain at 17.5 million units, but we understand that we are in a cyclical business, Barra told reporters prior to the companys annual shareholders meeting.
GM also concentrating on improving efficiency, she said. That will position us well when the cycle turns, she said. We are focused on market share but we are focused on profitable market share, she said.
During the meeting, GM also has passed something of milestone during the meeting with election of Jane Mendillo to the board. Half of all of the members of board of directors of GM, which has long been considered one of the cornerstones of American business, are now women for the first time in the companys history.
>>General Motors favors a regulatory approach requiring autonomous vehicles to be equipped with steering wheels and brake pedals.
And tampon dispensers.
We are within ten years of self-driving cars being the trend. I think within twenty years....almost no kid will be taking driver’s ed and that less than one-half of twenty-year-olds will have a license.
And in ten years we will still be within ten years of self-driving cars being the trend.
The problems with complete, door-to-door self-driving cars are so immense, they may never be solved.
Would you trust your life to a self-flying airplane that had no pilot onboard? That is a relatively benign environment, where the airports are very tightly controlled, the standards for runway and taxiway markings are extremely high, the maintenance level is immaculate, and yet we still haven't even tried to remove the pilot from the cockpit.
The problems with surface streets are infinitely more severe. Potholes. Snow. Faded lane markings. Pedestrians. Construction zones.
Self-driving cars will for the next 30 years or more be nothing more than an intelligent cruise control for freeway use.
Autonomous cars will be here sooner than we think.
There will always be drivers until we get rid of lawyers ...
For the foreseeable future, they will be limited to the interstate system of limited access roadways. To get on or off will require manual control, brakes and steering.
Not an accelerator???
Yes, that would be needed as well
Doesn’t matter to me, I will never buy another GM again.
GM is not at issue here.
What is at issue is developing a standard applicable to all vehicle manufacturers and the road ways and guidance systems. Common protocols that exist among all vehicles must be hammered out industry wide before there can be any such vehicles.
Last year, the German gov’t gave the transport ministry three years to come up with the draft for allowing unmanned vehicles on the German autobahn system. Note the word “draft”. They’ve been given enough indication by Mercedes that their vehicle will be ready around 2020 to sell to the public (no guesses on the price but it’ll probably over $75k). I saw a demo of the car last week on German news, it’s routinely test-driven now on the autobahn with a guy in the seat but the computer handles everything).
What I see happening is that Germany will likely be the first country to approve this business, and the first country to note someone’s untimely death due to the autonomous vehicles. But about a year into approval there...there’s going to be significant pressure on US car makers to produce and for the fifty states to approve some kind of standard.
As Mary Barra (the Hillary Clinton of GM) said, there should be driver controls in these new autonomous vehicles. What GM is not saying however, is that they intend to eventually get rid of those features too, and you can’t argue with “progress” when it’s the first female Chairman and CEO of GM who is telling the American people that it’s for their own good. GM’s “Voice of the Customer” is not really asking for any of this. It’s been adulterated and tailored to suit the Democrat Party’s agenda. The Voice of the Customer has been ventriloquized for appearances sake and the Obama administration is making the ‘dummy’ talk.
Oh, I don’t know. I’d take a straight-drive over an autonomous any day.
More coffee, please.
I'd like to know what he is basing that claim on... An independent list/assessment I read says GMs plans for an autonomous vehicle in 2020 (if the behemoth can stay on schedule) places them around 5th.
Personally, I like to drive. Last week I did a 1700 mi round trip as sole driver, without even bothering to put on cruise control. I'm not 100% convinced autonomous or assisted driving (eg. Tesla) is a good idea. Sure, it helps take the tedium out. Yes it can act like a safety net, recognizing drowsy drivers, helping avoid accidents, etc. But human nature being what it is, I think many people would start to rely on the tech to bail them out. They'd get even more impaired by drugs/alcohol, more distracted by phones, push harder while more sleepy... This will only be a net benefit if the tech capabilities can outpace the human weakness/stupidity. A tall order.
In Germany, on the immaculate Autobahn, yes it can work and work well. As I said, a self steering cruise control.
But on surface streets, door-to-door? No, the Merc will not be able to navigate city streets or rural two lanes without driver intervention.
This article sums up some of the almost insurmountable problems with door-to-door autonomy in automobiles, and it is door-to-door that I am talking about.
Where's the lane? Self-driving cars confused by shabby U.S. roadways
You’ll KNOW they are serious when they start bribing Congress to pass laws granting 100% liability exemption from any damages caused by autonomous vehicles.
can’t let the market decide, plus we invested all that money in horse and carriages that will be obsoleted otherwise....it’s our competitive advantage.
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