GM to introduce fleet of autonomous cars

General Motors Co CEO Mary Barra said the company planned to be a ''disruptor'' in the changing auto industry, with the announcement of what was believed to be an industry-first fleet of self-driving cars, as also two US car-sharing programmes.

A fleet of autonomous 2017 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrids would be made available for employees at its Warren Tech Center. Starting late next year, they would be able to hop into one of the Volts and be shuttled around the campus.

According to Barra, the company wanted to redefine the future of personal mobility, and in so doing transform the company.

''It really demonstrates a different mindset than what you might expect from the auto industry, really a Silicon Valley mindset,'' she told investors and analysts on Thursday at GM's Global Business Conference.

''We're going to step things up. We're going to experiment, we're going to get customer input, we're going to do it in a cost-effective way. If it works, we're going to scale it.''

The test fleet would drive and park itself to allow the passenger to sit back and let the car find its way. It would, however, allow a driver to take over at any time, according to GM spokesman Dan Flores.

Even as it looked to move in new directions, GM also intended to cut $5.5 billion in costs from its traditional car and truck business between now and the end of 2018, through cuts in purchasing, manufacturing and administrative expenses.

Meanwhile, BBC reported the company would use technology developed through partnerships with companies such as Mobileye, the Israeli software specialist.

The move comes in response to competition from companies such as Tesla and Google, whose plans for autonomous vehicles were well advanced.

However, according to GM its leadership in the automotive industry would give it an edge against some of competitors as everyone struggled to develop artificial intelligence that could anticipate drives decision and road conditions.

"No one has solved all the technologic challenges," said Mike Abelson, GM vice president for program management said at an investor conference.

The company also announced development plans for technology to make ride-sharing easier.

It launched two limited pilot programs in New York and Frankfurt to test apps and methods for sharing cars and hoped to launch a city-wide programme in the US in 2016, although the city was not named.

A growing number of people preferred paying a fee to use a vehicle rather than own one, a potentially huge revenue stream if the market continued to grow.