General Motors CEO Mary Barra unveiled plans on September 7 to make driving saferthrough hands-free technology, after a string of recalls that has dogged the company.
GM's top-of-the-line Cadillac brand will provide a semi-auto pilot mode dubbed "SuperCruise" on certain 2017 model year cars.
In the same time frame, the 2017 Cadillac CTS will feature vehicle-to-vehiclecommunication technology that allows cars to react to others in intersections and othersituations.
Barra said the new technology will be available outside the US. It is also in demand inheavily congested Europe and in China, where accidents are taking an increasingly heavytoll.
General Motors Co and its Chinese joint ventures sold 280,178 vehicles in China in August,up 14 percent from a year earlier, the US automaker said on September 4. Its sales in thefirst eight months of the year in China totaled 2.26 million vehicles, up 11.1 percent fromthe same period a year earlier.
"We are not doing this for the sake of the technology itself. We're doing it because it's whatcustomers around the world want," she said.
"Through technology and innovation, we will make driving safer."
Super Cruise will offer customers a new type of driving experience that includes hands-free lane following, braking and speed control in certain highway driving conditions.
The system is designed to increase the comfort of an attentive driver on freeways, both inbumper-to-bumper traffic and on long road trips.
The vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology could mitigate many traffic collisions andimprove traffic congestion by sending and receiving basic safety information such aslocation, speed and direction of travel between vehicles that are approaching each other.
It will warn drivers and can supplement active safety features, such as forward collisionwarning, already available on many production cars.
As the world becomes more congested and new populations need access to personalmobility, accidents continue to be a global concern.
A recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study estimated that theeconomic and societal impact of motor vehicle crashes in the US is more than $870 billionper year.
"Advancing technology so that people can more safely live their lives is a responsibility weembrace," Barra said.
GM cars 'safe'
Despite massive recalls in recent months, Barra said consumers still trust GM.
She denied that consumers have grown more skeptical of GM's technology or the safety ofits vehicles since the recalls began.
New vehicles sales in the US have risen 5.1 percent year-on-year through the end ofAugust 2014, according to Auto data.
But GM's sales have increased only 2.8 percent despite the introduction of a new line ofsport utility vehicles. Sales by the company's flagship Cadillac brand have dropped by morethan 4 percent.
Barra, who described Cadillac customers as "incredibly influential," said GM was in theprocess of rejuvenating its luxury brand.
"We have a lot of work to do at Cadillac. We're rebuilding Cadillac and that is going to takesome time," Barra told reporters after a speech marking the opening of IntelligentTransportation System World Congress.
GM, which has recalled more than 15 million vehicles for repairs, has set aside $1.6 billionto cover the cost of recall-related claims from individual consumers.
The recalls have spawned federal and state investigations as well as multiple lawsuits.
But Barra stressed that despite the massive recalls, the company's vehicles were safe onthe whole.
"When you look at the safety we have on today's vehicles, and the rating they've gottenfrom a variety of external sources, those vehicles speak for themselves," she said.
AFP - Global Times
