CEO Barra: GM working in secret on self-driving cars
Despite being one of the oldest names in the car business, General Motors is “among the leaders” in the development of self-driving cars along with Silicon Valley’s best — from Apple to Tesla, GM CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday in a wideranging interview with USA TODAY.
Barra said GM is well-positioned to thrive as transportation enters a self-driving revolution — even if Apple eventually makes a car, which is likely to be an auton- omous, electric vehicle.
Although Barra said GM has “a lot of efforts that are confidential,” the company disclosed that its Cadillac division is working on a “Super Cruise” system that will ease the workload for drivers on highways and will have a fleet of self-driving Chevrolet Volts at one of its test facilities.
In addition, she said, the company’s mid-$30,000 Bolt electric sedan is on track to hit showrooms in 2017. It will be capable of about 200 miles per charge, making it the company’s first long-range pure electric vehicle.
Given such technological prowess, Barra said she thinks GM’s stock is worth judging on its merits.
“We have to earn it,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what I think. The investors are speaking on where our stock is valued, so what I’m focused on is what I need to do to earn that credibility and that confidence.”
The world’s third-biggest automaker is churning out profits at a pace it hasn’t seen since the start of the century, but Wall Street’s reaction has been one giant shrug. GM stock hovers near its November 2010 initial public offering price of $33 as investors ponder whether the flourishing U.S. auto market has plateaued after several years of growth.
Barra said that just means GM needs to work a little harder to get some respect.