General Motors Co (GM) chief executive officer Mary Barra on Sunday unveiled plans to make driving safer through hands-free technology, after a string of recalls that has dogged the company.
GM’s top-of-the-line Cadillac brand is set to provide a semi-auto pilot mode called “Super Cruise” on certain 2017 models.
The 2017 Cadillac CTS is to feature vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology that allows cars to react to others at intersections and other situations.
Barra said the new technology would be available outside the US. It is in demand in heavily congested Europe and in China, where accidents are taking an increasingly heavy toll.
“We are not doing this for the sake of the technology itself. We’re doing it because it’s what customers around the world want,” she said. “Through technology and innovation, we will make driving safer.”
Super Cruise is to 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 in bumper-to-bumper traffic and on long road trips.
The vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology could mitigate many traffic collisions and improve traffic congestion by sending and receiving basic safety information such as the location, speed and direction of travel between vehicles that are approaching each other.
It can warn drivers and supplement active safety features, such as forward collision warning, already available on many production cars.
As the world becomes more congested and new populations need access to personal mobility, accidents continue to be a global concern. A recent US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study estimated that the economic and societal impact of motor vehicle crashes in the US is more than US$870 billion per year.
“Advancing technology so that people can more safely live their lives is a responsibility we embrace,” Barra said.
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 of its vehicles since the recalls began.
New vehicles sales in the US have risen 5.1 percent this year through the end of last month, according to Autodata.
However, GM’s sales have increased only 2.8 percent despite the introduction of a new line of sport utility vehicles. Sales by the company’s flagship Cadillac brand have dropped by more than 4 percent.
Barra, who described Cadillac customers as “incredibly influential,” said GM was in the process of rejuvenating its luxury brand.
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