Less than a year after shutting down its Cruise robotaxi unit, General Motors is once again betting on autonomous driving. In 2028, the American auto giant plans to release an electric Cadillac Escalade IQ SUV that will be able to drive without driver intervention. This is stated in a Bloomberg article, writes UNN.
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As GM announced, the system will allow hands-free driving on highways without constant eye monitoring, but this function will be disabled in urban conditions. In the future, the company intends to extend the technology to other models.
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The return to the autonomous direction became evident after Sterling Anderson was appointed head of product development. He previously led the autonomous truck startup Aurora Innovation and worked at Tesla on the AutoPilot system. In an interview with journalists, Anderson emphasized that GM is serious about developing this technology.
I would be a strange choice for product director if the company wasn't committed to autonomy, wouldn't I? I think there's a certain signal in that. I wouldn't be here if we weren't doing autonomy, because obviously I believe in it.
GM already has experience in this area – its Super Cruise system allows the driver to take their hands off the wheel, but not to be distracted from the road for too long. However, past attempts at full autonomy through Cruise ended in failure after an incident in 2023, when one of the company's self-driving cars hit a pedestrian.
Now GM is betting not on robotaxis, but on the mass sale of self-driving cars for personal use. According to Anderson, this is the future he "sincerely believes in" and which the company plans to implement in a production Cadillac in three years.