Earlier this week, Fiat Chrysler announced that it would phase out two compact cars in favor of building as many trucks as humanly possible. On the other side of the transportation spectrum, General Motors is going all-in on electric vehicles (EVs) and self-driving cars.
GM announced on Thursday the creation of a team that should accelerate development of autonomous and electrified vehicles.
"Effective February 1, GM is realigning critical areas of its business to create a combined, dedicated Autonomous and Technology Vehicle Development Team," said Alan Adler, a GM spokesman for autonomous vehicles. "This team will enable acceleration of the company's technical capabilities and create the future direction of GM vehicle programs in the autonomous and technologically advanced vehicle space."
For example, Doug Parks, VP of global products, will become the VP of autonomous technology and vehicle execution. Sheri Hickok, chief engineer for next-gen pickups, will become the head engineer for "autonomous joint ventures." GM's current head engineer for EVs will also assume some responsibility for self-driving cars, as well.
Between its partnership with ride-sharing company Lyft, the launch of car-sharing company Maven and the release of two new electrified vehicles (the second-generation, plug-in hybrid Volt and the all-new Bolt EV), GM is spreading itself across as many methods of transportation as possible.
