GM Reshapes Autonomous Driving for Future Innovation
General Motors (GM) is recalibrating its autonomous driving strategy to prioritise developing advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) as a pathway toward fully autonomous personal vehicles. Building on the success of Super Cruise, GM's highly acclaimed semi-autonomous driver assistance system, it is leveraging its strengths to lead the future of transportation.
Super Cruise: A Foundation for autonomy
Super Cruise, now available on more than 20 GM vehicle models, represents a significant step in semi-autonomous technology, logging over 10 million miles each month. The hands-free, eyes-on system provides advanced safety and convenience features that exemplify GM's commitment to cutting-edge innovation.
- Hands-Free Driving: Super Cruise offers true hands-free operation on over 200,000 miles of mapped highways in North America. A blend of LiDAR mapping, GPS, real-time cameras and sensors enables precision control of steering, braking and acceleration.
- Lane centring and adaptive cruise control: The system ensures smooth navigation by keeping vehicles centred within lanes and automatically adjusting speed to maintain safe following distances, even in stop-and-go traffic.
Automatic lane change and lane change on demand
Super Cruise can autonomously change lanes to overtake slower vehicles or execute driver-prompted lane changes. Blind-spot monitoring and radar sensors enhance safety during these manoeuvres.
Trailering support: Super Cruise adapts to towing scenarios, maintaining greater following distances for added safety while recognising when trailers are attached.
Real-time hazard detection and driver monitoring: Advanced sensors detect hazards like roadworks or school zones, while a Driver Attention System ensures the driver remains alert during hands-free operation.
Over-the-Air Updates: GM regularly updates Super Cruise through over-the-air (OTA) technology, ensuring compatibility with new roads and improving functionality.
With these capabilities, Super Cruise remains one of the most advanced Level 2 autonomous systems, balancing innovation with safety.
Integration of GM and Cruise teams
GM plans to integrate its Cruise LLC and technical teams into a unified effort to advance its vision for autonomous and assisted driving. The strategic shift reflects GM's focus on delivering customer-centric innovations while aligning with its capital efficiency goals.
Mary Barra, CEO of GM, stated: "GM is committed to delivering the best driving experiences to our customers in a disciplined and capital-efficient manner."
"Cruise has been an early innovator in autonomy and the deeper integration of our teams, paired with GM's strong brands, scale and manufacturing strength, will help advance our vision for the future of transportation."
Restructuring and refocusing Cruise operations
GM's ownership of Cruise aims to exceed 97% following shareholder agreements and planned acquisition of the remaining shares. It will restructure Cruise operations, focusing on assisted and autonomous driving technologies while ceasing funding for Cruise's robotaxi development.
The decision stems from the considerable resources required to scale robotaxi operations and an increasingly competitive market. GM anticipates the restructuring will reduce spending by more than US$1bn annually, with completion expected in the first half of 2025.
Dave Richardson, Senior Vice President of Software and Services Engineering at GM, highlighted the broader implications of this shift:
"As the largest U.S. automotive manufacturer, we're fully committed to autonomous driving and excited to bring GM customers its benefits – things like enhanced safety, improved traffic flow, increased accessibility and reduced driver stress."
A vision for autonomous transportation
GM's strategic pivot reinforces its dedication to developing technologies that enhance the driving experience while laying the groundwork for fully autonomous personal vehicles. By combining Super Cruise's progress with Cruise LLC's expertise, GM aims to lead the evolution of autonomous mobility.
"This integration, paired with GM's scale and manufacturing strength, will help advance our vision for the future of transportation."
GM redefines what's possible in autonomous driving by prioritising customer-centric solutions and disciplined capital allocation. The company's commitment to innovation, safety and efficiency positions it as a key player in shaping the future of personal mobility.
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