Cadillac CEO: Autonomous Cars Must Co-exist With Driving Passion, or 'You Might as Well Take the Bus'
Speaking Wednesday at the 10th annual J.D Power Automotive Marketing Roundtable in Las Vegas, Cadillac CEO Johan de Nysschen didn’t mince words regarding Silicon Valley’s infatuation with fully autonomous driving.
The luxury brand chief, while standing before an image of Google’s autonomous prototype, said: “Many autonomous car (prototypes) emphasize sheer functionality. It would be a mind-numbing experience going from point A to B. My goodness, you might as well take the bus.”
De Nysschen said Cadillac’s upcoming Super Cruise strikes a balance between fully autonomous driving and driving yourself.
According to Wards Auto, de Nysschen said that it’s Cadillac’s goal to develop autonomous cars that “enhance the joy of driving, but eliminate the tedious parts, such as stop-and-go-traffic.”
Super Cruise, the semi-autonomous system from Cadillac that will debut on the 2017 CT6 and CTS, should do just that, though not because it can’t go fully autonomous, de Nysschen hinted.
“The difference between Super Cruise and fully autonomous lies more in the legal than the technical arena. I’ll leave it at that.”
Also of note was the CEO’s assertion that Cadillac is still strong and that the delayed purchase of vehicles by millennials will work in the luxury brand’s favor.
“Because they are entering the market later, they have more money to buy a car. They are giving up entry-level offerings in order to make an automobile their first luxury purchase.”
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He's right about autonomous driving - on the driving experience and the legal part. Only Volvo has (foolishly) claimed they'll own the liability.
We will see a bit of both. No need to do your mindless commuting while paying attention to the road in some distant future. Recreational trips for the sheer pleasure of driving yourself is something different, and form the best excuse to hold on to that coveted classic you have been storing away for special occasions. As long as you expect a brand new car to do both, IMO a new type of vehicle is needed.
““Because they are entering the market later, they have more money to buy a car. They are giving up entry-level offerings in order to make an automobile their first luxury purchase.”” This seems like a cynical level of smoke and mirrors delivered by someone who knows his bosses are so stupid they'll swallow it and keep the gravy train running for at least one more paycheck. It's impossible to succeed when that's not even your plan.
Driving Passion and Cadillac have as much in common as Donald Trump and Tai Chi. Seriously, I have yet to ride in a Cadillac that I'd ever consider owning. Too pricey, too large, too heavy, too thirsty, too tacky, too pretentious, too poorly made. Pretty quiet when new, though, but they were (and are) cars for gullible old people.