GM Exec: Google Could Become a 'Serious Competitive Threat'

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Who me? A GM exec says this cute little guy could potentially disrupt the auto industry.

Image: Google

By Todd Wasserman2014-05-29 13:03:21 UTC

A General Motors executive says he believes Google could become a "serious competitive threat" to the entire auto industry if it pursues its self-driving cars.

“Anybody can do anything with enough time and money,” said Mark Reuss, product-development chief at GM, told Bloomberg. “If they set their mind to it, I have no doubt” that they could become “a very serious competitive threat.”

See also: 8 Big Questions About Google's Self-Driving Car

Reuss' assertion comes after Google announced this week that it plans to deploy 100 self-driving vehicles this year. The innocuous-looking cars hit a top speed of 25 mph. Google has been working with an unnamed Detroit-based manufacturer on the project.

GM, which has been beset by massive recalls this year, has demonstrated a technology called Super Cruise that will support semi-automated driving features including braking, speed control and hands-off lane following. Reuss says he thinks the industry will phase in autonomous autos over several years. “It’s going to be a creep, it’s not going to be a mind-bending thing,” Reuss said. “I don’t think you’re going to see an autonomous vehicle take over the city anytime soon.”

John J. Leonard, a middle-aged Massachusetts Institute of Technology roboticist also told The New York Times that “I do not expect there to be driverless taxis in Manhattan in my lifetime.”

IHS Automotive Analyst Egil Juliussen predicts that almost all cars will be self-driving by 2050.

Topics: Business, General Motors, GM