GM’s Mark Reuss at Holden Headquarters: ‘Make no mistake, we’re moving to a driverless future’

Holden engineer Rob Trubiani. Photo: GM Holden Pressroom

So how do you feel about the future of autonomous motoring—or of a so-called “driverless future?”

If you’re reading Auto Enthusiasts Newsblaster, chances are you have mixed feelings at best about autonomous vehicles in general. And, looking 10 or 20 years ahead, you’re probably a lot more comfortable with the vision of a world in which you still have at least a choice about whether you or a computer will be in control of your personal vehicles.

It now seems pretty clear, however, that GM has a different vision. In an announcement today on an expanded role for GM Holden’s Australian engineers in advancing the technologies of autonomous driving, Mark Reuss, GM Executive Vice President and Cadillac Global Product Group Vice President, speaking at Holden Headquarters, articulated what appears to be a vision of an automotive new world order, in which human-controlled driving will be a thing of the past—a future that he apparently believes will be here much sooner than many of us think.

“GM is determined to be the first company to bring safe, autonomous vehicles to market — not within years, but in quarters. Make no mistake, we’re moving to a driverless future — a future of safer roads and zero crashes,” said Reuss. “At the same time, GM is well on its way to bringing at least 20 new all-electric models to market by 2023.

“The world-class vehicle engineering capability we have at Holden in Australia will play a significant role in GM delivering on its commitment to create a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.”

How does this sit with you as a car enthusiast? Utopian dream, or dystopian nightmare in which one of the most fundamental elements of freedom cherished especially here in the United States, may soon be dwindling or even gone—the freedom to jump into a vehicle of which you are 100 percent in control, and drive wherever you want, taking whatever route you want to take?

Your comments on this subject are welcome and wanted—either in the comment fields directly below this article, or on any social media platforms on which we have posted this article.