GM Favors Autonomous Vehicles with Driver Controls, Barra Says

The Detroit Bureau ^ | 06June2016 | Joseph Szczesny

[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 automaker’s 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 GM’s 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 company’s 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 company’s history.

[longtermmemmory]

the last sentence has doomed this project to failure.

IOW between the lines: Wheel and brake? what about acceleration?

It this a car with automation or an automated only car with no driver preferred. If government motors is still in this quota based board then it is government motors controls all. IOW the project is doomed to inevitable failure.

[I want the USA back]

If it has driver controls it’s not autonomous.
Will these damned things be able to drive off road? Will they be able to park next to Aunt Tillie’s red station wagon and behind Uncle George’s truck? Will they come to a halt when the GPS system goes down?
Will they refuse to work during a snowstorm? Will they distinguish a newspaper blowing in the wind from a dog running across the street? Will they distinguish a frozen lake from an asphalt surface?
If the driver has to be ready to take over anytime the system turns it over to him, it’s not autonomous, and it’s not “self-driving.”

[rigelkentaurus]

So many questions about this: will it be able to safely drive on unmarked country roads? gravel roads? what about roads with water ponding on it? snow and ice covered roads? I guess I might use them when I am forced to because I am too old to drive, but until then - nope, not for me.

My 1968 Ford XL convertible with a manual transmission will be just fine for me until I can’t drive anymore.

[equaviator]

Good point!

[equaviator]

I see it as a joint venture between GM and the current regime. Mary Barra and her board have probably concluded that GM owes the Obama administration a truckload of favors with this being just one of them.

[Paleo Conservative]

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 Air France seems to have done this in the 2000's. Air France flight 447 crashed, because the pilots didn't actually know how to fly the Airbus A330 manually in case the automation failed. The design of the joysticks used by the pilots also contributed to the crash. The pilot had no idea that the copilot was pitching the plane up when he needed to be pitching it down to regain airspeed. That mistake wouldn't have happend in a Boeing 777 cockpit where the control columns are linked together.