The Detroit automaker on Thursday announced several alternative transportation initiatives that outline how it is embracing the changing ways people will be getting around in the years ahead.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra talks with media Thursday, October 1, 2015, before outlining the company's plans to capitalize on the future of personal mobility, before a conference of investors at the General Motors Milford Proving Grounds in Milford, Michigan. (Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors) DETROIT, MI - With the advent of shared mobility and greater connectivity, and other things that end with "y" and basically spell a very different automotive industry in the future, General Motors has this message: They are on it.
The Detroit automaker on Thursday announced several alternative transportation initiatives that outline how it is embracing the changing ways people will be getting around in the years ahead:
Autonomous Volts
GM said in late 2016 it will outfit its Warren Technical Center campus with a fleet of autonomous 2017 Chevrolet Volts. GM employees will be able to reserve a Volt and select a destination with a car-sharing, mobile application. The program will act as a lab for the company's ongoing development of autonomous vehicles. GM also noted it's releasing a 2017 Cadillac CT6 with "Super Cruise," an early form of autonomous driving offered to consumers.
Car sharing
GM said it is launching Thursday new car- and ride-sharing projects in New York City. One such project, called Let's Drive NYC, will only be available to residents of The Ritz Plaza in midtown Manhattan. Tenants of the 479-unit luxury apartment building will be able to use a mobile app to reserve a vehicle in one of 200 Manhattan parking garages.
The effort will allow GM to continue to test out such car-sharing services. It follows a mobility partnership with Google last year that tested out a mobile app-based ride-sharing service using Chevrolet Spark EVs.
eBikes
GM unveiled Thursday an electronic bike that the company said demonstrates its "evolving view of 'mobility' in an ever-changing, increasingly urban world." The eBike was engineered and developed at a GM site in Oshawa, Ontario.
Fuel cell tech
GM said it is partnering with Honda to develop a viable fuel cell vehicle with Honda by around 2020. It is also developing the technology for non-automotive uses. The automaker has been working in advance hydrogen fuel cells for about a decade, launching its first fuel cell vehicle in 2007.
Mixed materials and mixed-metal manufacturing techniques
The company said it continues to develop an array of materials, including various grades of steel, aluminum and composites to make its vehicles stronger yet lighter and more efficient.
GM said it has also invented a patented, industry-first welding technology that enables the welding of aluminum to steel. The technique is being adapted at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant of the forthcoming Cadillac CT6.
Investing in new products, saving $5.5 billion
GM executives announced these initiatives from the Milford Proving Grounds during a conference with investors.
"The convergence of rapidly improving technology and changing consumer preferences is creating an inflection point for the transportation industry not seen in decades," GM CEO Mary Barra said in a release. "Some might find this massive change to be daunting, but we look at it and see the opportunity to be a disruptor. We believe our decades of leadership in vehicle connectivity is fundamental to our quest to redefine the future of personal mobility."
The company also said it expects to grow its business over the next five years through several key efforts, such as a $5 billion investment in Chevrolet, maintaining its position in China with an enhanced presence in the SUV and luxury segments, and expanding Cadillac's vehicle portfolio into growing luxury segments.
At the same time, GM said it expects to offset the cost of new investments with savings of about $5.5 billion purchasing, manufacturing and administration expenses between 2015 and 2018.
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.